Vivendi Visual Entertainment | 1984 | 88 mins. Not Rated
The Talking Heads, David Byrne (vocals, guitar), Chris Frantz (drums), Tina Weymouth (bass) and Jerry Harrison (guitar, keyboards) played their first live show when they opened for The Ramones in 1975 at CBGB. The band was one of the progenitors of the New Wave music that blossomed during the 1980’s.While their hits may not be as instantly recognizable as other bands such as U2 that came to prominence at the same time, songs like “Psycho Killer,” “Once in a Lifetime” and “Burning Down the House” remain staples on classic rock radio stations.
December of 1983 found the band at the height of their critical and commercial success. Touring in support of their album Speaking in Tongues, the band employed director Jonathan Demme (who had not yet become a real sought after auteur), and cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth (Blade Runner) to document three nights of performances at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater, which were later edited together to form Stop Making Sense, widely regarded as one of the greatest rock concert films of all time.
Right from the start, it’s clear that Stop Making Sense isn’t going to be a boring, straightforward experience. The documentary opens with a credit sequence clearly inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Lead singer David Byrne—dressed in a gray suit and white sneakers—walks out on stage carrying a guitar and boom box. “Hi,” he says, “I’ve got a tape I want to play.” As he hits the play button, a beat from a TR-808 drum machine kicks into a machine gun rhythm, and Byrne launches into the screeching melody of “Psycho Killer,” the band’s first song, written when Byrne was still a student at the Rhode Island School of Design.
With each successive song, Byrne is cumulatively joined onstage by each member of the band, as roadies dressed in black role out their equipment. Bassist Tina Weymouth comes out first, adding a rootsy feel to “Heaven,” drummer Chris Frantz follows by alternating snare hits with a country backbeat on “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel,” last but not least, is Jerry Harrison, who layers his scratch guitar rhythm over “Found a Job.” Once the main band is assembled the band is joined by a group of first rate musicians and back-up singers. The whole line-up is: back-up singers Edna Holt and Lynn Mabry (originally of The Brides of Funkenstein and Parliament-Funkadelic), keyboardist Bernie Worrell (formerly of Parliament-Funkadelic), percussionist Steve Scales, and guitarist Alex Weir (of The Brothers Johnson). The first song to feature the entire line-up, “Burning Down the House,” is a highlight of the show and remains my favorite version of the song to this day. By the time the group gets to the energetic, rousing, extended versions of “Girlfriend is Better” and “Once in a Lifetime,” the sound, choreography, and design concept have joined together to create what feels, sounds and looks like the perfect concert experience.
While the staging of Stop Making Sense is minimal—David Byrne wanted as few distractions as possible onstage. Water bottles were not allowed, and most props were painted with a black matte to avoid reflecting light. As simplistic as everything seems, it was innovative at that same time. While most concert films use a series of quick-cut editing techniques, the majority of Stop Making Sense uses long camera shots; keeping the focus on the band and not panning to the audience. This technique gives viewers a chance to really see Byrnes’ odd head movements, running in place, jogging around on stage. Whatever is happening, it’s clear that at that place, that moment in time Byrne and his band mates were happy to be alive and making music.
Demme deserves credit for restricting audience reaction shots and resisting the temptation to use phony zooms. Also responsible for much of the quality of Stop Making Sense is cinematographer Jordan Cronenweth who managed to create a sharp, realistic looking atmosphere for The Talking Heads to perform in. Even twenty-five years after its 1984 release, Stop Making Sense remains one of the most innovative and energetic concert films ever released. If you’re not dancing by the opening beats of “Burning Down the House,” you’re likely not a fan of the band.
Tracklisting:
1. Psycho Killer
2. Heaven
3. Thank You for Sending Me An Angel
4. Found A Job
5. Slippery People
6. Burning Down the House
7. Life During Wartime
8. Making Flippy Floppy
9. Swamp
10. What A Day That Was
11. This Must Be the Place (Naïve Melody)
12. Once In a Lifetime
13. Genius of Love
14. Girlfriend is Better
15. Take Me to The River
16. Crosseyed and Painless
Compared to the color and clarity of modern concert films, Stop Making Sense’s 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer, which has been remastered from a 35mm interpositive, simply can’t compete. Shots are frequently soft, black levels have a tendency to crush shadow detail, colors are a bit dull, and the print itself shows damage with specks, and the occasional scratch. Regardless, the 25-year old film still looks great. This transfer presents the film as is, without any attempt to mask its sometimes-heavy grain with DNR or digitally clean up the picture. And the film works all the better for it, feeling appropriately of its time and perfectly capturing the jittery excitement of a Talking Heads concert.
The film’s two separate DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mixes offer stunning fidelity, warmth, and range. First up is the Feature Film Mix, a digitally remastered and remixed version of the original theatrical soundtrack that, according to the leaflet that comes inside the Blu-ray case, allows the listener to “experience something much like being front-row at the original performances.” I’d say that’s true, as the track is filled with the claps and cheers of concert ambience in the surround channels, and the timbre of the music is affected by the acoustics of the Pantages Theater. This mix definitely has a “live” feeling, creating a large and airy sound stage with ample but never overpowering reverb. The Studio Mix is much tighter. There’s still some ambience, but this mix is cleaner and more vibrant, with boosted vocals and more definition between instruments. If you don’t have a surround sound set-up, the disc also includes an excellent PCM 2.0 stereo mixdown of the Feature Film track.
Commentary
Director Jonathan Demme and all four members of the Talking Heads lend their thoughts to the film, all the participants were recorded separately. Still, even if we don’t get any interaction between band members, there are plenty of reasons why this track is essential listening for Talking Heads fans, from Byrne talking about the origins of “Psycho Killer” and the big white suit, to insights about the staging and the evolution of the band’s sound.
1999 Press Conference (1080i, 1:05:57)
Just as informative is this press conference, which found the four members of the Talking Heads reunited for a Q&A at the San Francisco International Film Festival, where Stop Making Sense was given a 15th anniversary screening. The press conference is presented in its entirety, and is the only new feature exclusive to this Blu-ray release.
Note that while this is presented in 1080i—the back of the case says 1080p, it’s obviously just upscaled SD video footage. The same goes for the remainder of the video special features.
David Byrne Interviews…David Byrne (1080i, 4:35)
With some clever (for the ‘80s) video editing and plenty of characteristic weirdness, Byrne acts as both interviewer and interviewee here, asking himself some pointless but entertaining questions about Stop Making Sense while donning a veritable fashion parade of ridiculous guises.
Montage (1080i, 3:08)
Basically a trailer for the film, with clips from several songs and cut-up style editing.
Bonus Songs (1080i)
Includes performances of “Cities” (3:43), and “Big Business / I Zimbra” (7:39).
Storyboards (1080p)
This user-controlled gallery contains 32 sketches of David Byrne’s original designs for the stage show, complete with his notes and directions.
Big Suit
Here you can read a bit of text about the origins of Byrne’s infamous oversized suit.
Trailer (1080i, 1:50)
Previews (1080i, 5:52)
Includes trailers for Patti Smith: Dream of Life, You’re Gonna Miss Me, and Dig!
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