Talking Heads' Fear of Music
Jonathan Lethem
It's the summer of 1979. A 15-year-old boy listens to WNEW on the radio in his bedroom in Brooklyn. A monotone voice (it's the singer's) announces into dead air in between songs ""The Talking Heads have a new album, it's called Fear of Music"" - and everything spins outward from that one moment.
Jonathan Lethem treats Fear of Music (the third album by the Talking Heads, and the first produced by Brian Eno) as a masterpiece - edgy, paranoid, funky, addictive, rhythmic, repetitive, spooky and fun. He scratches obsessively at the album's songs, guitars, rhythms, lyrics, packaging, downtown origins, and legacy, showing how Fear of Music hints at the directions (positive and negative) the band would take in the future. Lethem transports us again to the New York City of another time - tackling one of his great adolescent obsessions and illuminating the ways in which we fall in and out of love with works of art.
Duration - 4h 5m.
Author - Jonathan Lethem.
Narrator - Keith Brown.
Published Date - Wednesday, 29 January 2025.
Copyright - © 2012 Jonathan Lethem ©.
Location:
United States
Description:
It's the summer of 1979. A 15-year-old boy listens to WNEW on the radio in his bedroom in Brooklyn. A monotone voice (it's the singer's) announces into dead air in between songs ""The Talking Heads have a new album, it's called Fear of Music"" - and everything spins outward from that one moment. Jonathan Lethem treats Fear of Music (the third album by the Talking Heads, and the first produced by Brian Eno) as a masterpiece - edgy, paranoid, funky, addictive, rhythmic, repetitive, spooky and fun. He scratches obsessively at the album's songs, guitars, rhythms, lyrics, packaging, downtown origins, and legacy, showing how Fear of Music hints at the directions (positive and negative) the band would take in the future. Lethem transports us again to the New York City of another time - tackling one of his great adolescent obsessions and illuminating the ways in which we fall in and out of love with works of art. Duration - 4h 5m. Author - Jonathan Lethem. Narrator - Keith Brown. Published Date - Wednesday, 29 January 2025. Copyright - © 2012 Jonathan Lethem ©.
Language:
English
Opening Credits
Duration:00:00:13
Quotes
Duration:00:01:01
Warning
Duration:00:00:32
Prelude I
Duration:00:07:12
Prelude II
Duration:00:03:56
I Zimbra
Duration:00:16:02
Is Fear of Music a Talking Head's Record?
Duration:00:06:52
Mind
Duration:00:17:06
Is Fear of Music a David Byrne Album?
Duration:00:05:55
Paper
Duration:00:07:52
Is Fear of Music a Text?
Duration:00:07:45
Cities
Duration:00:18:44
Two Cities Hiding
Duration:00:03:33
Life During Wartime
Duration:00:16:52
Is Fear of Music a New York Album?
Duration:00:06:55
Memories Can't Wait
Duration:00:11:17
So Fear of Music is a Concept Album. What Happens on Side Two?
Duration:00:02:25
Air
Duration:00:12:01
Is Fear of Music a Science Fiction Record?
Duration:00:10:13
Heaven
Duration:00:10:54
Is Fear of Music an Asperger's Record?
Duration:00:06:17
Animals
Duration:00:12:48
Is Fear of Music a Paranoid Record?
Duration:00:05:26
Electric Guitar
Duration:00:11:10
What Was the Fate of the Fear of Music Songs in Live Performance?
Duration:00:10:21
Drugs
Duration:00:22:21
Breaking Up With Fear of Music
Duration:00:08:45
Closing Credits
Duration:00:00:43