J
ERRYandIhave remainedgood friends.I’mnot surewhostartedthe conversation,butitwent somethinglikethis:‘Wow, wasn’titgreatwhenwe didthat1980tour?The audiencesweresoexcited andhappy.’Iremember sayingtoJerrythatit’sthe kindofthingtheworldneeds again–weshouldtrytodo that.WeknewDavidwould probablyrefuseandwe didn’tknowwhatChrisand Tina’stakewouldbe.Inthe endnoneofthemwanted todoit,butallthreeofthem gaveustheirblessing. “Jerry was producing a band called Turkuaz who’d actually formed based on that period of Talking Heads music. They’re kind of a funky band – horn section, backup singers, the whole deal that we really needed. And Jerry said, ‘Well, this is the band!’ They’d played together for 10 years so they were a very tight, well-oiled machine. Before we knew it, there we were on stage doing a pretty straightforward version of what Talking Heads were doing on the 1980 Remain In Light tour. Even with three of the main people not there, I think we have managed to capture the joy and spirit of that music. “Weplayedsomefestivals [in2021]andtheresponse wasfantastic.Youcan’tleave theshowwithoutdancing.I starttheshowwith‘Psycho Killer’–whenwewalkout, there’sanincrediblevibe goingonbecausethewhole audienceknowseveryword. Playingguitaron‘TheGreat Curve’isalwaysaspecial momentforme.I’vealways beenafanofsomeofthe interestingquirkyoneslike ‘Drugs’.They’reallclassics now.Maybeafterwe’ve donethisNorthAmerican tour,we’llhavemore informationastowhether thisisdoablesomewhere else.Icertainlyhopeitis– Iwouldlovetogetback toEurope.”
The Remain In Light tour kicks offon February 16 at Denver’s Ogden Theatre; seethefull list of dates at remaininlight.net