Remain in Love by Chris Franz: A Story of Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, and Love

I love rock bios. I’ll have to admit that the extreme decadence of constant sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll makes for a wild read. The antics and stamina of Led Zeppelin, the Stones, Van Halen, Aerosmith, and many more are hard to believe. Remain in Love is not that book.

First and foremost, it’s a love story. Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth: College sweethearts, the drummer and bassist in a rock band, the rhythm section of TWO hit-making groups, married with two kids, and still in love 40+ years later. Wow, how refreshing is that! And while Talking Heads definitely partied, life was not consumed by drugs or alcohol (although Chris does admit that cocaine got the best of him in 1984 and sought treatment).

The origins of the band are well known. Art students at the Rhode Island School of Design who later moved to NYC to start a band. Chris started the band after meeting David Byrne and his Tina providing support. After some early gigs and release of their first single, “Love > Building on Fire”, Jerry Harrison from Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers joined the band on guitar and keyboards in 1977. Their early shows at CBGB (always surprising to me that this stands for Country, Bluegrass, and Blues) are a riveting read. Along with Talking Heads, the Ramones, Blondie, Television, Johnny Thunders, New York Dolls, and more all had their formative shows there.

The book spends more time in the early years, highlighting touring with the Ramones and B-52s in the mid and late 70s. The first European tour with the Ramones in 1977 gets special attention. In Paris, London, Amsterdam, and points in between, Talking Heads were greeted with growing applause and multiple encores. Then the Ramones came on and blew the place down to a frenzied crowd. There’s lot of good stories about hanging with the Ramones on the tour bus. Johnny Ramone, putting it mildly, was a difficult person to get along with. They had fun with the B-52s over the years, including the 1979 tour which I was fortunate to see at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara.

While the book focuses on Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, the side group Chris and Tina formed, gets some well-deserved attention. How many side projects of a band’s bassist and drummer release their first album to immediate acclaim and popularity? Their eponymous debut album contained the hits “Genius of Love”, “Wordy Rappinghood”, and a cover of “Under the Boardwalk.” Tom Tom Club was always intended as a side project during downtimes with the Talking Heads when the other band members were also pursuing solo projects.

Talking Heads, particularly Chris and Tina, spent some of their finest moments in life at Compass Point in the Bahamas. They recorded More Songs About Buildings and Food, Fear of Music, and Remain in Light there, all produced by Brian Eno. Another example of Chris and Tina’s talent is their production work for other artists. They took Ziggy Marley under their wings at Compass Point for his outstanding album Conscious Party, with the beautiful song “Tomorrow People.” (Ziggy doesn’t come across too good either, at least his nineteen- year-old self.) Compass Point is their special place, second home, and the destination later in life for their sailboat Katrinka.

Of course, you’ll be curious to find out what Chris Franz thinks of David Byrne. Sadly, Talking Heads were not immune from the egotistical front man syndrome. David is socially awkward, demanding, disrespectful, and hurtful, taking credit where it’s not all his to claim. The author also shares examples of David as a unique lead singer, good musician, and creative songwriter and lyricist. There is no bashing of David Byrne; this book is about Chris and Tina.

How do you describe Talking Heads? They’re artsy, punky, funky, rock n’ roll, with Afro-Caribbean influences in the mix. Quite simply, there is no one else like them. Think about it. I have to end this with the words of Chris Franz, “we were post-punk before there was even punk.” Classic. And so are the Talking Heads.

Here’s one of my favorites, “The Big Country” from More Songs About Buildings and Food:

D² Rating: ◼◼◼◼☐

Trivia ? – Who gave the induction speech for Talking Heads into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001?

Answer: Anthony Kiedis, of the Red Hot Chili Peppers