The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years (doc. 2016) Ron Howard

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (Doc. 2016) Ron Howard
Hulu streaming (1:45)

The Beatles: Eight Days a Week is still in theaters, but you can now stream it exclusively on Hulu, which I did tonight. If you’ve been a Beatles fan for decades (like me), you probably think you’ve already seen it all. Some experts have guessed that hardcore fans have already seen at least 90% of the footage in the new documentary, but you know we’re going to watch for that 10%. (Heck, I’d watch for 1%.)

Playing Favorites #8: “Life in a Glasshouse” – Radiohead (2001)

(Originally posted November 24, 2009)

“Life in a Glasshouse” by Radiohead (2001)
Written by Radiohead

“Life in a Glasshouse” opens with strange, atmospheric shimmering sounds that could be interpreted as church bells tolling. I offer up that interpretation only because what follows is a slow dirge in A minor featuring trumpet, trombone and clarinet, instruments often found in New Orleans-style jazz from a bygone era, but in this case they carry a funereal flavor. Then follow the lyrics:

Remembering David Bowie (1947-2016)

“I don’t know where I’m going from here, but I promise it won’t be boring.” – David Bowie

Stop Making Sense (1984) Jonathan Demme

Stop Making Sense (1984)
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Produced by Gary Goetzman, Gary Kurfirst
Written by Talking Heads, Jonathan Demme
Cinematography by Jordan Cronenweth
Edited by Lisa Day
Palm Pictures Blu-ray
(color, 1:28)

David Byrne – vocals, guitar
Chris Franz – drums
Tina Weymouth – bass
Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitar

Pauline Kael, in her review, said “Stop Making Sense makes wonderful sense.” It does and it doesn’t. It might not make sense if this is your first exposure to the Talking Heads or if you’re someone trying to understand the music of the 80s or if you just want to know what the heck David Byrne is singing about. What does make sense is the fact that this concert film is a celebration of creativity and a testament to pure, unadulterated joy of performance.

 

Stop Making Sense was filmed during three nights of Talking Heads concerts at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. It is not your typical concert movie. In it you will find none of the following:

 

Band member interviews

Comments from audience members

Glitzy special effects

Explosions

Scantily clad women (or men)

Footage of band members behaving badly  

 

 

In fact, the concert begins about as bare-bones as you can get. David Byrne walks onto an empty stage with a guitar and a boom box. “I’ve got a tape I want to play,” he announces, presses a button (although the boom box is really just a prop), and launches into “Psycho Killer.” Everything seems normal enough until the off-stage drum machine starts spitting out percussive machine-gun rhythms, causing Byrne to….. Well, you’ll just have to see it for yourself.

 

With each song, another band member is added until the entire entourage is onstage. Even if you aren’t familiar with any of the songs, it quickly becomes clear that these guys are having a great time, particularly Byrne. A few minutes into the film, my wife turned to me and said, “What drugs do you think he’s taking?” My answer: “None.” I honestly think that Byrne is so energized by what he and the band are doing that it comes out in his actions. Certainly much of this is rehearsed, but it’s not faked. You can’t fake high energy, not for long, and certainly not for nearly 90 minutes. 

 

Although the film is not a David Byrne showcase, he’s clearly in the spotlight and for good reason. He’s visually just fun to watch. You never know what he’s going to do next, whether it’s jogging around the entire stage, dancing with a lamp, or doing goofy moves in a laughably oversized suit. I wouldn’t bet money on it – but then again, maybe I would – but I’d be surprised if Byrne hasn’t studied silent films, especially the comic masters like Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd. His movements are so filled with kinetic energy that you simply can’t stop watching. Yes, part of that comes from the music, but part of it comes from Byrne himself. 

 

I’ve said little about the music. What might get lost in all this, if you’re not careful, is the fact that the Talking Heads is a really good band. The music (even close to 30 years later) is odd, but not unapproachable. By and large, it’s not technically flashy: no extended guitar solos, nothing virtuosic. I can’t even tell you what most of the songs are about, but they’re smart, witty and impossible to ignore. No doubt you’ve heard some of them:  

1. Psycho Killer

2. Heaven

3. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel

4. Found A Job

5. Slippery People

6. Burning Down The House

7. Life During Wartime

8. Making Flippy Floppy

9. Swamp

10. What A Day That Was

11. This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)

12. Once In A Lifetime

13. Genius Of Love

14. Girlfriend Is Better

15. Take Me To The River

16. Crosseyed And Painless 

 

If this is your first Talking Heads experience, you’ll probably want to rent the film first, but if you like it, you’ll probably want to own it. The Blu-ray is a bit pricey, normally hanging around the $25 (or higher) range. If you see it on sale, snatch it up. (A huge thanks to Janice, Pete, Alex and Evan for giving it to me.)

 

Extras:

Commentary by Jonathan Demme and the four band members

1999 Press Conference celebrating the film’s 15th anniversary (just over one hour)

David Byrne Interviews…David Byrne (5 min.)

Montage (3 min.)

Bonus Songs “Cities” (4 min.) and “Big Business/I Zimbra” (8 min.)

Storyboards

Big Suit (text)

Trailer (2 min.)

Previews (6 min.)

5/5

Playing Favorites #7: “Try a Little Tenderness” – Otis Redding (1966)

(originally posted August 9, 2007)

“Try a Little Tenderness” by Otis Redding (1966)
Written by Jimmy Campbell, Reg Connelly and Harry M. Woods

By the time Otis Redding was cajoled into recording “Try a Little Tenderness,” it had already been recorded by Sam Cooke, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and even Bing Crosby. The song, after all, had been around since the 1930s, but Redding’s manager Phil Walden thought it would be a good “weeping ballad” for Otis in 1966.

Playing Favorites #6: “Dallas” – The Flatlanders (1972/1992)

(originally posted June 26, 2007)

“Dallas” by The Flatlanders (1972/1992)
Written by Jimmie Dale Gilmore

Playing Favorites #5: “Blue Orchid” – White Stripes (2005)

(originally posted May 11, 2007)

“Blue Orchid” by The White Stripes (2005)
Written by Jack White III, Meg White

“Blue Orchid” is the type of song that, as Stephen King says, would’ve “turned my dials all the way up to 10” in high school. To someone now in his 40’s, it still provides a pretty good kick.

Playing Favorites #4: “Rio” – Michael Nesmith (1977)

(originally posted 4/23/2007)

“Rio” by Michael Nesmith (1977)
Written by Michael Nesmith

I’ve never really understood why Michael Nesmith wasn’t embraced more warmly as a solo artist after the end of The Monkees. Maybe because he made such an issue of not wanting to be a part of any reunion projects for several years when nearly every band from the 60’s was launching reunion concerts. (Although he did join the surviving Monkees – after the death of Davy Jones – for a brief tour in 2012.) That’s not to say Nesmith wasn’t successful – he certainly was both as a musician and an innovator in music videos in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s. Some even refer to Nesmith as “The Father of the Music Video,” which isn’t quite accurate, but I’m willing to give Mike the nod.

Playing Favorites #2 & #3: “Dear Someone” and “Red Clay Halo” – Gillian Welch (2001)

(originally posted 3/31/07)

“Dear Someone”
“Red Clay Halo”
by Gillian Welch
written by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (2001)

Gillian Welch writes contemporary songs that sound like they were penned fifty, sixty, even a hundred years ago. You can hear elements of various styles in her music: country, gospel, mountain, roots, old-time, rock, and blues, to name just a few. But with “Dear Someone” what you get is pretty straightforward: a slow waltz that’s in absolutely no hurry at all. Yet at just over three minutes, it’s over far too soon.

Playing Favorites #1: “No Expectations” – The Rolling Stones (1968)

The other day I was going through my mountain of CDs, trying to figure out which ones to keep (or store digitally) and which ones to toss. This exercise (mostly an exercise in futility) reminded me of a project I started years ago and never kept up with: blogging about my favorite music. I thought it might be fun to revisit some of those entries and maybe create some new ones. This initial entry was first posted in March 2007 on another blog. Here it is: