When I was in my first year of high school I discovered SCTV. I loved it. Every night at 11pm (or Thursday Nights at 9 if you are a fan) on Channel 9 CKND, I would watch 30 minutes of pure Canadian comic genius. A lot of big players too, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Katherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, and Harold Ramis. SCTV was in principle the story of a perpetually failing television station with no budget, stars or talent. Of course in reality it had all of the above but they had a lot of fun making it look otherwise. But because this is a music blog I will draw attention to one particular semi-regular segment, The Gerry Todd show. Veejay Gerry Todd (Rick Moranis) welcomes Talking Heads and The Plastics to his high-tech variety show 'Midnight Video Special' - only to be defeated by an attack of superior technology from Japanese entrepreneur Tim Ishimuni (Dave Thomas). Plastics videos seem impossible to find or I would show one today, but of course Talking Heads videos are another matter. When I first saw the 'Once in a Lifetime' video on SCTV I was in awe of its - well, awesomeness.
To promise a series of New Wave videos and not show anything by the New York based Talking Heads would be unforgivable. I know maybe most people wouldn't group the band in such a tightly packaged genre but we have all the token traits. Synths, confused-sounding vocalist, more chroma keying than you can shake a stick at, Rugrats inspired haircut, seizure dancing, horned glasses, and a freaking bow tie. This ladies and gentlemen is New Wave.
A Talking Head is term used in cinema to describe a head and shoulders shot of a person on screen who carries dialog. Essentially all talk and no action. The band found this description in a TV Guide and thought it suited them perfectly. 'Remain in Light' was released in 1980 and 'Once in Lifetime' was the album's big single. Only the single didn't get any radio play. Music videos were becoming the next big thing at the time and when packaged with visuals the song suddenly became an overnight success. A well deserved one I might add. David Byrne, the group's singer is as interesting to watch as he is to listen too. A live version of the song has become pretty popular over time as well. Byrne looks like some Sunday School teacher who has accidentally stumbled onto the stage and decides to wing it in hopes of saving face. Really funny to watch.
There is nothing in life I enjoy more
than music. Like Tower Records says,
No Music No Life. This blog is dedicated
to the music that makes me smile.
I hope you’ll like it too!
The picture of me is by my awesome
sister, Kelly! It makes me smile a lot!
When I was in my first year of high school I discovered SCTV. I loved it. Every night at 11pm (or Thursday Nights at 9 if you are a fan) on Channel 9 CKND, I would watch 30 minutes of pure Canadian comic genius. A lot of big players too, John Candy, Andrea Martin, Katherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Martin Short, Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Joe Flaherty, and Harold Ramis. SCTV was in principle the story of a perpetually failing television station with no budget, stars or talent. Of course in reality it had all of the above but they had a lot of fun making it look otherwise. But because this is a music blog I will draw attention to one particular semi-regular segment, The Gerry Todd show. Veejay Gerry Todd (Rick Moranis) welcomes Talking Heads and The Plastics to his high-tech variety show 'Midnight Video Special' - only to be defeated by an attack of superior technology from Japanese entrepreneur Tim Ishimuni (Dave Thomas). Plastics videos seem impossible to find or I would show one today, but of course Talking Heads videos are another matter. When I first saw the 'Once in a Lifetime' video on SCTV I was in awe of its - well, awesomeness. 
To promise a series of New Wave videos and not show anything by the New York based Talking Heads would be unforgivable. I know maybe most people wouldn't group the band in such a tightly packaged genre but we have all the token traits. Synths, confused-sounding vocalist, more chroma keying than you can shake a stick at, Rugrats inspired haircut, seizure dancing, horned glasses, and a freaking bow tie. This ladies and gentlemen is New Wave.
A Talking Head is term used in cinema to describe a head and shoulders shot of a person on screen who carries dialog. Essentially all talk and no action. The band found this description in a TV Guide and thought it suited them perfectly. 'Remain in Light' was released in 1980 and 'Once in Lifetime' was the album's big single. Only the single didn't get any radio play. Music videos were becoming the next big thing at the time and when packaged with visuals the song suddenly became an overnight success. A well deserved one I might add. David Byrne, the group's singer is as interesting to watch as he is to listen too. A live version of the song has become pretty popular over time as well. Byrne looks like some Sunday School teacher who has accidentally stumbled onto the stage and decides to wing it in hopes of saving face. Really funny to watch.
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