Talking Heads released “Once in a Lifetime”

Once in a Lifetime Talking Heads

Writer(s): David Byrne, Brian Eno, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth (see lyrics here) Released: February 2, 1981 First Charted: February 7, 1981 Peak: 91 US, 82 CB, 1 CL, 1 CO, 14 UK, 28 CN, 23 AU, 9 DF (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 0.2 UK Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio,64.4 video, 153.58 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: For their fourth album, Remain in Light, the Talking Heads adopted a new songwriting method. Working with producer Brian Eno, they recorded jams in the studio, keyed in on the best parts, and then played those repetitively. The technique took its influence from early hip-hop and afrobeat musicians like Fela Kuti. Singer David Byrne compared the approach to modern looping and sampling, describing the band as “human samplers.” WK “Once in a Lifetime” was, according to Byrne, the band’s failed attempt at playing funk. Eno initially didn’t like the track and the band nearly shelved it. Keyboardist Jerry Harrison said it was difficult to write choruses for the song because of the limited chord changes. Byrne, however, believed he could write lyrics to it. The song fell into place after Eno sang wordlessly to the song, thus developing the chorus melody. WK Byrne took his inspiration for the lyrics and vocals from preachers delivering sermons. His half-spoken and half-sung vocals are like the call-and-response between a preacher and a congregation. WK All Music Guide’s Steve Huey said the lyrics addressed “the drudgery of living life according to social expectations,” SF but Byrne said they are about the unconscious and how we “operate half-awake or on autopilot.” WK NPR’s Travis Morrison said “the lyrics are astounding – they are meaningless and totally meaningful at the same time. That’s as good as rock lyrics get.” WK The video by David Byrne dancing erratically to footage of religious rituals broadcast behind him on a blue screen. WK His “spastic movements and hand chopping motions…were inspiring by watching video footage of people with epilepsy.” BC Byrne and choreographer Toni Basil (best known for her #1 song “Mickey”) studied archival footage of evanglists and preachers as well as African tribes, Japanese religious sects, and people in trances. WK In 2003, BBC critic Chris Jones wrote that the video “remains as compelling as it was in 1981. And how many other videos can you say that about?” WK The original single was a top 20 hit in the UK and hit the top 30 in Canada and Australia. The song didn’t chart in America until three years later when a live version from the band’s concert film Stop Making Sense was released as a single. Malcolm Jack of the Guardian described the song as “a thing of dizzying power, beauty and mystery…it sounds like nothing else in the history of pop.” WK Resources: BC Brad Carl (2015). 50 Songs from the 70s and 80s That Still Hold Up. Pages 50-51. NPR National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” SF Songfacts WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 11/14/2019; last updated 9/25/2022.

 

Paul McCartney & Wings hit #1 with “Band on the Run”

Band on the Run Paul McCartney & Wings

Writer(s): Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney (see lyrics here) Released: April 8, 1974 First Charted: April 13, 1974 Peak: 11 US, 12 CB, 11 HR, 12 RR, 22 AC, 1 CL, 3 UK, 11 CN (Click for codes to singles charts.) Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, 0.4 UK, 2.0 world (includes US + UK) Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 18.0 video, 177.21 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: Paul McCartney’s planned working vacation to Lagos, Nigeria, took a turn when guitarist Henry McCullough and drummer Danny Seiwell abruptly quit. As he said, “It was literally an hour before we were getting into the plane.” TB By necessity, the album was nearly a solo effort, although his wife Linda McCartney and Denny Laine were still on board. On the title cut for the album alone, McCartney played guitar, bass, drums, and synth. He also sang lead and backing vocals. SG Nigeria was also “not the tropical paradise that McCartney had envisioned. Instead, it was a country recovering from a civil war and controlled by a military junta. Infrastructure had crumbled. Disease was rampant. And rather than relaxing in finery, McCartney had to make do with a studio that only had one eight-track recorder.” SG In addition, they ended up going during rainy season and Paul and Linda got robbed at knifepoint after ignoring locals’ advice and going out walking by themselves. Among the losses: “a notebook full of song ideas and a few demo tapes, including the original ‘Band on the Run’ demo.” SG Paul also said, “in Lagos, these guys were really sensitive about…people ripping off their music. They couldn’t understand why we had come to Lagos. We told them there was no dirty motive behind it.” TB “Afrobeat god Fela Kuti…confronted McCartney at the studio, and McCartney had to play him the new Wings songs just to reassure him that they didn’t sound even remotely Afrobeat-esque.” SG “The resulting album is easily the best non-Beatles thing McCartney has ever done, and its title track might be a best-case scenario for what can happen when you push big stars out of their comfort zones.” SG The song “should be a mess.” SG It “doesn’t have a clear plotline, but it’s a story about a musical group escaping from jail.” SG Critic Robert Christgau characterized it as a song “about the oppression of rock musicians by cannabis-crazed bureaucrats.” WK It was partly inspired by improved relations with his ex-Beatles bandmates after they severed ties in March 1973 with manager Allen Klein, WK who McCartney had always hated. SG In one of the business meetings, George Harrison said “if we ever get out of here” in reference to the feeling like the Beatles were imprisoned by their record company problems. Paul thought it would be a good line for a song. WK The song is “certainly indulgent: a three-part suite of unfinished ideas” SG – a slow ballad, a funk-rock style piece, and a country-esque section. WK There’s a 60-piece orchestra recorded in London, with orchestration by Tony Visconti, who’d worked with T-Rex and David Bowie. However, “all three parts have serious hooks, and even if they have nothing to do with each other melodically, McCartney knits them together with complete confidence.” SG “When the tension of the second bit gives way to the orchestra crashing in, it really does sound like a moment of liberation.” SG Resources: FB Fred Bronson (2003). The Billboard Book of Number One Hits (5th edition). Billboard Books: New York, NY. Page 366. SF Songfacts SG Stereogum (5/21/2019). “The Number Ones” by Tom Breihan WK Wikipedia Related Links: First posted 6/26/2022.