Talking Heads are closing out 2023 ahead of the curve. The groundbreaking art-rock group that never fell from fashion—even three decades after disbanding—had a particularly momentous year with the mega-successful rerelease of 1983’s Stop Making Sense concert film and LP soundtrack.
Since 2021, Talking Heads keyboardist/guitarist—and Southern Marinite—Jerry Harrison has been spotlighting one of the band’s previous yet no-less-notable albums, 1980’s Remain in Light, with his recreation of the original supporting tour alongside guitarist Adrian Belew, best known for his work with King Crimson, David Bowie, and Talking Heads.
Featuring album hit “Once In A Lifetime,” as well as earlier fan favorites like “Psycho Killer,” “Life During Wartime,” “Take Me To The River,” and selections from the pair’s respective solo careers, the Remain in Light tour rolls into the Bay Area for two shows (Sat/30 at The Warfield and Sun/31 at Napa’s Jam Cellars Ballroom)—both supported by punk band X.
I spoke to Harrison, a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee and Lifetime Achievement Grammy recipient (for his work with Talking Heads) not to mention an acclaimed producer who’s worked with Foo Fighters, No Doubt, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and San Francisco’s very own Thistle LLC about touring with Belew and X, the rerelease of Stop Making Sense, and whether a once-in-a-lifetime Talking Heads reunion in 2024 even makes sense.
48 HILLS Tell me about the new Remain in Light show with Adrian Belew.
JERRY HARRISON We used a Talking Heads show from Rome in 1980, when Adrian was in the band I put together for the Remain in Light tour.
We are playing most of the songs in that show with some King Crimson and solo material. We’re sharing the vocal duties because we have a lot of singers with different characteristics to their voices, and no one’s trying to do an impersonation of David Byrne. We’re doing these fantastic songs and presenting them as best we can.
48 HILLS How does it feel to be touring with X?
JERRY HARRISON It is fantastic. John Doe and I are good friends, but I love them as a band. Everyone will walk away saying, “Boy, that was a satisfying night of wonderful music from both bands.”
48 HILLS Let’s cut to Remain in Light. Tell me about the recording of one of Talking Heads’ most critically acclaimed albums.
JERRY HARRISON The genesis of it was we had discovered Fela Kuti and King Sunny Adé, and I had the good fortune of seeing both of them perform in New York at different times. When we recorded [the African-inflected] “I Zimbra,” we realized that this was a fun, cool song, and we loved the interlocking parts that differed from our R&B or Funkadelic influences. So we said we would do more of this for the next album.
Then, we decided on a radical idea of going into the studio without having prepared anything because we had noticed that when we were rehearsing a song, there would be this innocence in the first take.
So we thought, “Let’s go in the studio and catch first impressions.” So Chris would play a drum beat, and then someone would play another part. It was a stacking of parts rather than doing them as an ensemble. And then the vocals and the lyrics came on top of those groupings of tracks.
48 HILLS Why was Belew brought in for the recording sessions?
JERRY HARRISON We were all fans of his guitar work, and he happened to be playing at New York’s Mudd Club. So we went down there and said, “Adrian, do you want to come up and play on a few songs?” His solo on “The Great Curve” is one of his greatest solos—and that was the first take.
At that point, the songs weren’t completed. I don’t know if there were vocals on the songs, but he was playing on them. It was more like, “Listen to it, and when you think a solo might come in, play it. We just want you to react.” So he was only there one afternoon.
48 HILLS How did you end up moving to the Bay Area 14 years later?
JERRY HARRISON What happened was my family and I were living in our loft in New York City’s SoHo, and a homeless woman tried to put bloody bread in our one-year-old’s mouth.
So my wife came home and said, “I don’t know if we can raise three kids here.” Then, it became “Where can we live where they have recording studios?” We finally came out to San Francisco and saw all these recording studios. And then we discovered Marin, a suburban area with recording studios with a whole vibe from the Summer of Love.
Whenever I came to San Francisco as a musician and played here, it was fun. Plus, people like coming to San Francisco, so I knew they’d be happy to record with me here.
48 HILLS Speaking of cultural phenomena, I was blown away by the excitement around the rerelease of Stop Making Sense. What makes it special?
JERRY HARRISON It’s never looked more beautiful than right now. The mix in theaters has progressed from 1984, but even since 1999. And so you have Dolby Atmos and IMAX systems, and you hear it in a theater like that. There is also a more complete connection between picture and sound.
48 HILLS What was it like to work together (for the promotion of this film) for the first time since the band’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2002?
JERRY HARRISON I have seen and hung out with everybody, so it felt natural. Everybody had thought it through and said, ”Whatever differences we’ve had about other things, this is something that we can all celebrate together, something we’re all proud of.” So I don’t think it was that hard for everybody to embrace this moment—and the more we do it, the more comfortable it feels for everybody.
And then, of course, seeing it in IMAX was amazing because it’s so big. I’d never seen it like that before. And as David saw it, he said, “Oh my God. There’s a shot up my nose; do I have any boogers?” It is revealing. I hope there’s nothing like that that’s embarrassing that is not only visible but six feet tall.
48 HILLS All four members have expressed regrets over the breakup and a desire to reform the band. What’s the holdup?
JERRY HARRISON I would love it if it happens. We’re just taking it one step at a time. We’re concentrating on this rerelease. There’s also reticence to say, “Let’s not start having a discussion or a plan,” because if someone says, “I don’t want to do that,” that could create negativity that could reflect on the joy right now. So, as someone who tries to be responsive to fans, I would love it if it happened. But we’ll have to see.
JERRY HARRISON & ADRIAN BELEW: REMAIN IN LIGHT W/ SPECIAL GUEST X Sat/30, The Warfield, SF. $39.50-$99.50. Tickets and more info here.
JERRY HARRISON & ADRIAN BELEW: REMAIN IN LIGHT W/ SPECIAL GUEST X Sun/31, JaM Cellars Ballroom, Napa. $99-$199. Tickets and more info here.
