True Stories (album)

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True Stories
Studio album by Talking Heads
Released	October 7, 1986
Genre	Rock, world music
Length	46:03
Label	Sire
Producer	Talking Heads Reissue Producer Andy Zax with Talking Heads
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone (Not Rated) link
Talking Heads chronology
Little Creatures (1985) True Stories (1986) Naked (1988)

True Stories is the seventh album released by Talking Heads in 1986; it was released at the same time as the David Byrne film of the same name, True Stories.

The album does not contain the actors' performances from the film, and as such is not considered a true soundtrack album. Byrne stated in an interview that the decision not to release these unique renditions (including performances by John Goodman and Pops Staples) is a major regret.^{[citation needed]} Instead, this is a Talking Heads studio album featuring recordings of songs from the film. While an original cast recording for this movie was never released, several of the film performances did appear on single releases of several songs from the album.

Later, lead singer Byrne released the album Sounds from True Stories containing incidental music from the soundtrack.

The single "Wild Wild Life" became the big hit from the album, accompanied by its video airplay on MTV. The "Wild Wild Life" video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 1987: "Best Group Video", beating U2 and Crowded House, and "Best Video from a Film". (The video is in fact an extended sequence lifted directly from the film itself). A video for "Love for Sale" was created for use in the film (during a sequence when a woman watches the video on TV), and an extended version was later released as a video in its own right.

In 2006, it was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (an extended mix of "Wild Wild Life," "Papa Legba" with vocal by Pops Staples, and "Radio Head" with vocals by Tito Larriva). The DVD-A side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "Wild Wild Life" and "Love For Sale." In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc.

Contents 1 Track listing 2 Personnel 2.1 Talking Heads 2.2 Additional musicians 2.3 Recording personnel 3 Trivia 4 Chart performance

[edit] Track listing

All songs by David Byrne.

1. "Love for Sale" – 4:30
2. "Puzzlin' Evidence" – 5:23
3. "Hey Now" – 3:42
4. "Papa Legba" – 5:54
5. "Wild Wild Life" – 3:39
6. "Radio Head" – 3:14
7. "Dream Operator" – 4:39
8. "People Like Us" – 4:26
9. "City of Dreams" – 5:06

Of the above, "Love for Sale", "Wild Wild Life" and "City of Dreams" are the only recordings that actually appear in the film. On screen, the other songs are performed by the film actors.

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Talking Heads

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

[edit] Additional musicians

• Paulinho Da Costa – percussion on "Papa Legba", "Radio Head", and "People Like Us"
• Steve Jordan – accordion on "Radio Head"
• Tommy Morrell – pedal steel guitar on "People Like Us" and "City of Dreams"
• Tommy Camfield – fiddle on "People Like Us"
• Bert Cross Choir – vocals on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
• St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School Choir – vocals on "Hey Now"

[edit] Recording personnel

• Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing, overdubbing
• Melanie West, Nick del Ray – assistant engineers
• Robin Laine, Charles Brocco, and Tom Nist – assistant mixing
• Lee Herschburg – mixing on "People Like Us"
• Mick Guzauski – mixing on "Wild Wild Life"
• Paul Christiensen – overdubbing engineer on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
• Michael McClain – overdubbing engineer on "Hey Now", "Radio Head", "People Like Us", and "City of Dreams"
• Jack Skinner – mastering

[edit] Trivia

• British band Radiohead took their name from the song "Radio Head" on this album. They also name Talking Heads a big influence in their music.
• In the novel American Psycho, this Talking Heads album is the one that Patrick Bateman plays throughout the start of the story.

[edit] Chart performance

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1986	UK Albums	7

Single

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1986	"Wild Wild Life"	UK Singles	43
1987	"Radio Head"	UK Singles	52

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)