It’s the stated mission of the Chorus, the octogenarian purveyors of pop and classic rock. Presenting a positive image of aging through music is a noble pursuit. We’ve embedded the studio version heard on the band’s breakthrough 2009 album Gorilla Manor, but if you head to NYC Taper, you can listen to the very “Warning Sign” that David Byrne heard (a certain audience member’s backing vocals not included). And the second? “I looked up while we were playing our version of Talking Heads’ ‘Warning Sign’ and I saw David Byrne standing in the balcony and singing along” guitarist Ryan Hahn told SPIN about a 2010 show. The Guardian reports that Jerry Harrison brought his daughter to see the band years ago. ![]() Local Natives have the rare distinction of having performed this cover in front of not one, but two separate Talking Heads. But they never really were able to duplicate their poultry-inspired success, although they have continued to release music and tour. Geils, The Doobie Brothers, The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Toto, and The Plasmatics. The Fools rode the “Psycho Chicken” wave (and a bunch of other catchy, well-executed New Wave tunes including a great cover of “I Won’t Grow Up” from Peter Pan) to opening slots for bands such as Van Halen, The Knack, Kansas, Joan Jett, Katrina and the Waves, J. ![]() Yes, the song is silly, but it is hard to argue that David Byrne’s singing, especially in the Talking Heads’ early days, doesn’t have more than a little cluck in it. A single with the naughty bits “clucked out” became a novelty hit and led to a major label signing. The Fools, a band from the Boston area, worked up a profane version of “Psycho Chicken” which turned into a local favorite in 1979. ![]() A great parody finds something in the song that just cries out to be lampooned. “Weird Al” Yankovic is one of the few to have made a career in this genre his success is predicated on cleverness of his versions, but it is more than that. The song parody is the evil fraternal twin of the cover, usually keeping the music and changing the lyrics. Honorable Mention: The Fools – Psycho Chicken But the really great covers, the ones that stand out, work the same way the Talking Heads did their entire career: a little bit differently. Many bands take the safe route, sticking close to original template judging by YouTube videos, “Psycho Killer” is really fun to fa-fa-fa live. And above all: idiosyncratic (though not so much so they can’t also be iconic). Talking Heads tracks tend to be instantly recognizable, some combination of offbeat and danceable, arty and poppy. “You want to make sure you don’t fall into that trap” of being known as a cover artist, he said.īyrne did indeed become known for his own songs eventually, and covering those songs is no easy feat. And Byrne refused to ever record another cover with the band. “Take Me to the River,” on the band’s second album More Songs About Buildings and Food, became the band’s breakthrough hit, reaching #26 on Billboard charts (the first album’s “Psycho Killer” never passed #92). This is, of course, exactly what happened. So then a band gets known for covering somebody else’s song as opposed to writing their own material.” Something that’s already familiar to their audience is less risky. “I’d seen it happen before, where radio DJs who pick what they’re going to play will often pick a cover song. “There’s always a little bit of resistance to recording a cover like that because it’s kind of a crowd pleaser,” Byrne told me. ![]() When I interviewed David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison about “Take Me to the River” ( here), they told me Byrne was reluctant to record even the one. That’s right, the Talking Heads only recorded one cover in their entire career (and delivered one of history’s all-time great covers in the process). Because the best covers by the Talking Heads is a very short list. Let’s start by defining our terms: This list concerns the best covers of the Talking Heads.
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