When Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth, and drummer Chris Frantz initially launched the band Tom Tom Club, it was only meant to be a side project. One which served as a creative outlet for the two as they dealt with David Byrne who had taken full creative control of the Heads. However, as their self-titled debut took off in dance clubs, and peaked at number twenty-three on the Billboard 200, it became clear that they were here to stay.
For the adventure Weymouth would bring along sisters Lani, Laura, and Loric, but in addition several other members of the Compass Point All Stars family would join. This included Adrian Belew, Monte Brown, Tyrone Downie, and Uziah Thompson.
Depending on what format you buy will dictate not only the tracks you get, but subsequently the runtime. Using the original vinyl as the definitive version, if you bought the cassette version, the final track, Booming And Zooming would be replaced by a cover of Under The Boardwalk. However, the CD version would include both of these tracks, plus three bonus tracks. However, the bonuses would just be a remix and extended version of already included songs.
Wordy Rappinghood pretty much sums up the 80's. Pure nonsense gibberish, all set to a beat and synthesizer. It was stupidly fantastic in its own way. This is followed by the equally goofy lyrical Genius Of Love. The irony of this is that I never cared for either of these songs, but yet they were the reason I bought the album.
As a whole, the album approaches the music with a very nursery rhyme and childish style. Candidly, it can be annoying at times because it doesn't feel like the band itself is taking things seriously, but rather just goofing off in the studio, yet somehow producing a full record in the process. Of course, you could also go to the opposite spectrum, embrace it, and find pure joyful bliss in the simplicity of pop music.
For me, it's a relative miss. While I got into the first two tracks, as things continued in this manner, it wore thin fast. Sorry, but I need more substance to my music than just goofy sounds and rambling. It's perhaps clear why David Byrne took control of Talking Heads. If he left Weymouth and Frantz to their own devices, their music and legacy may have crumbled fast.
With that harshness stated, I will say that As Above, So Below, Lorelei, and On, On, On, On... were a pretty decent tune, and I admittedly will add Wordy Rappinghood and Genius Of Love to my shuffle. Again, those two are what I bought the album for.
I don't know. I'm on the fence with Tom Tom Club right now. On one hand, I want to say their musical geniuses for taking basic lyrics, gibberish, and solid musicianship to create a unique listening experience. However, on the other, I want to say it's so basic that it's dumb. Maybe it's both, and perhaps it depends on what your own mood is when you play through it. I'll reserve judgement until I hear their follow-up, 1983's Close To The Bone.
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