Talking Heads: 77

Sire Records

September 16th, 1977.

The jittrery jives of The Talking heads universe made its humble first appearance on this day in 1977. Peaking out from behind the curtain of obscurity The Talking Heads plan of execution took the eccentric, outsider route. Lit up with flare and flambeaux the debut promised an eclectic career in more ways than one. Their intriguing style set the stage for what would become a highly sought after and highly adorned career.

Influence is a big thing in the world of artistic endeavors. Some would say it's more important than the work in itself - there are deeper problems of concern in the world, however. Influence is what survives long after the day is done. When it comes to contemporary music there aren't many acts that haven't fallen into the undercurrent of influence in the wake of The Talking Heads somewhere down the line. Some of your favourite acts are in major debt to the New York foursome - both within the rock spectrum and further afield. For example, you can hear flecks of Johnny Marr on tracks like 'No Compassion' - the guitarwork goes from jangly to sophisticatedly endearing in the blink of an eye. The croons towards the end of 'The Book I Read' harks back to Paul Banks of Interpol on their 2002 debut. Influence usually stems from simplicity in correlation with one's own uniqueness - something we all have, but most never realise.

It's a rare occasion when the quality of the music lives up to the scale of subsequent influence. When pure pop becomes unhinged it tends to hit in a different manner than all else. The little quirks and distinctive characteristics of the band make them a timeless act - often imitated, never bettered. Running your own race, in your own lane, usually leads to unrepeatable moments in time - small windows of unforgettable brilliance. Talking Heads: 77 shines a light on the more straight forward side of the band. The experimentations and far reaching ideas - Brian Eno aboard - would follow soon after, however the potential was there right from the get-go. Honing in on idiosyncrasies makes Talking Heads stand head and shoulders above the rest - they offered up fresh perspectives for pop music.

Talking Heads: 77 was just the introduction and warmup of one of the finest bands to ever grace the game.