True Stories is the seventh album released by
Talking Heads in 1986; it was released at the same time as the
David Byrne film of the same name,
True Stories.
The album does not contain the actors' performances from the film, and as such is not considered a true soundtrack album. Byrne stated in an interview that the decision not to release these unique renditions (including performances by
John Goodman and
Pops Staples) is a major regret. Instead, this is a Talking Heads studio album featuring recordings of songs from the
film. While an
original cast recording for this movie was never released, several of the film performances did appear on single releases of several songs from the album. An early working title for the project (endorsed by bassist
Tina Weymouth) was
Wild Infancy.
Later, lead singer Byrne released the album
Sounds from True Stories containing
incidental music from the soundtrack.
The single "Wild Wild Life" became the big hit from the album, accompanied by its
video airplay on
MTV. The "Wild Wild Life" video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 1987: "Best Group Video", beating U2 and Crowded House, and "Best Video from a Film". (The video is in fact an extended sequence lifted directly from the film itself). A video for "Love for Sale" was created for use in the film (during a sequence when a woman watches the video on TV), and an extended version was later released as a video in its own right.
In 2006, it was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in
DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (an extended mix of "Wild Wild Life," "Papa Legba" with vocal by
Pops Staples, and "Radio Head" with vocals by
Tito Larriva). The
DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "Wild Wild Life" and "Love for Sale." In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by
Andy Zax with Talking Heads.
Track listing
All songs written by David Byrne:
- "Puzzlin' Evidence" – 5:23
- "Wild Wild Life (Extended Mix) [CD bonus track] – 5:30
- "Papa Legba (Pops Staples Vocal Version) [Re-release bonus track] – 5:59
- "Radio Head (Tito Larriva Vocal Version) [Re-release bonus track] – 3:50
Of the above, "Love for Sale", "Wild Wild Life" and "City of Dreams" are the only recordings that actually appear in the film. On screen, the other songs are performed by the film actors.
Personnel
Talking Heads
Additional musicians
- Bert Cross Choir – vocals on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
- Tommy Camfield – fiddle on "People Like Us"
- St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School Choir – vocals on "Hey Now"
Recording personnel
- Charles Brocco – assistant mixing
- Paul Christiensen – overdubbing engineer on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
- Nick del Ray – assistant engineers
- Lee Herschburg – mixing on "People Like Us"
- Robin Laine – assistant mixing
- Michael McClain – overdubbing engineer on "Hey Now", "Radio Head", "People Like Us", and "City of Dreams"
- Tom Nist – assistant mixing
- Melanie West – assistant engineers
- Mike Nicholson – engineer on "Wild Wild Life"
In Popular Culture
- British band Radiohead took their name from the song "Radio Head" on this album. They also name Talking Heads as a big influence in their music.
Chart performance
Album
Singles
