Talking Heads, con su estilo único y experimental, dejó una marca indeleble en la historia de la música. Fundada en 1975 en Nueva York, el grupo se destacó rápidamente en la escena musical por su mezcla ecléctica de punk, rock, funk y ritmos africanos. La banda se compuso originalmente de David Byrne (voz y guitarra), Chris Frantz (batería), Tina Weymouth (bajo) y Jerry Harrison (teclados y guitarra).
David Byrne, Chris Frantz y Tina Weymouth se conocieron en la Rhode Island School of Design. Compartían intereses similares en arte y música, lo que los llevó a formar una banda llamada The Artistics. Sin embargo, al mudarse a Nueva York y para alinearse con la vibrante escena punk del CBGB, decidieron cambiar su nombre a Talking Heads.
El 8 de junio de 1975, Talking Heads debutó en CBGB como teloneros de los Ramones. Su actuación llamó la atención del crítico de música del The Village Voice, John Rockwell, quien elogió su frescura. Esta exposición les permitió firmar con Sire Records en 1976.
Su primer álbum, Talking Heads: 77, presentó al mundo su estilo inconfundible. El sencillo "Psycho Killer" se convirtió en un himno y ayudó a establecer su reputación como pioneros del nuevo sonido post-punk.
Well, I'm dressed up so nice
An' I'm doin' my best
An' I'm startin' over..
I'm startin' over in another place
Lemme tell you a story
Big chief with a golden crown
He's got rings on his fingers
And then he walks up, up to the throne
He's makin' shapes with his hands
An' don't choo dare sit back
Now don't choo dare sit down
And don't choo dare speak up!
And on the first day, we had everything we could stand
Ooh who could've asked for more?
And on the second day, there was nothing else left to do
Ooh what a day that was.
There are 50,000 beggars
Roaming in the streets
They have lost all their possessions
They have nothing left to eat
Down come a bolt of lightning
Start an electrical storm
Starts a chain reaction
Go pull a fire alarm
I'm dreaming of a city
It was my own invention
I put the wheels in motion
A time for big decisions
And on the first day, we had everything we could stand
Ooh and then we let it fall
And on the second day, there was nothing else at all
Ooh what a day that was.
Oh a day that was
Ooh that's the way it goes
There's a million ways- to get things done
There's a million ways- to make things work out.
Well I'm going right through
And the light came down
Well they're roundin' 'em up
from all over town
They're movin' forward and backwards
They're movin' backwards and front
And they're enjoying themselves
Moving in ev'ry direction
And if you feel like you're in a whirlpool
You feel like going home
You feel like talking to someone
Who know the difference between right and wrong
And on the first day, we had everything we could stand
Ooh and then we let it fall
And on the second day, there was nothing else left at all
Ooh what a day that was.
(We're go(in') boom boom boom That's the way we live