NEW YORK — It’s a costume so colossal that it gets its own name.
“Mr. “Byrne’s Big Suit” is featured in the credits of “Stop Making Sense,” the gorgeous 1984 Talking Heads concert film. Gail Blacker’s oversized creation is on glorious display in “Girlfriend is Better,” a rollicking showstopper, in which David Byrne shakes and wobbles in boxy gray clothes.
“It’s pretty hot down there at this point in the show, so I took the jacket off as quickly as I could,” Byrne recalls, laughing. “I didn’t want the whole jacket to get soaked – that wouldn’t look good.”
The now-iconic outfit — which Byrne likens to “the playing cards from Alice in Wonderland” — has been imitated by everyone from Miley Cyrus to Kermit the Frog, with Fall Out Boy rocking a similar frock at the MTV Video Music Awards last week.
But still, “I have no idea why this (suit) turned out this way,” Byrne says.
Jumbo jackets are just a small part of the legacy of “Stop Making Sense” (out Friday, in IMAX theaters everywhere, September 29), which has been crisply remastered and re-released by A24. Directed by the late Jonathan Demme (“The Silence of the Lambs”), the film is widely considered “the greatest concert film of all time,” said director Spike Lee during a recent question-and-answer session with the new wave band at the Toronto International Film Festival explained.
The 90-minute film was shot over three evenings in December 1983 and is pure joy. We ask you not to smile during “Burning Down the House,” as Byrne happily runs in place with touring guitarist Alex Weir. Or in “Take Me to the River,” when backup singer Lynn Mabry breaks out in the middle of the chorus at the sight of Byrne in his huge pants.
“It’s just so much fun,” says keyboardist and guitarist Jerry Harrison, 74, sitting with Byrne in an East Village hotel. “We radiate on stage that we are having fun, and you can feel that in the audience too. In many concert films, it’s interesting to focus on a guitarist’s hands, but it’s not exactly fun. Jonathan did a wonderful job of capturing the personalities and interactions between (us). Plus, the music is just great for dancing.”
Unlike most concert films, Demme’s film is not interrupted by interviews or behind-the-scenes footage. Instead, he simply lets the performance unfold in its entirety.
“Thank God we didn’t do the interviews,” says bassist Tina Weymouth, 72. “That’s the mistake of most ‘rockumentaries.'” We speak much better through our instruments. There was way too much Robbie Robertson in The Band in The Last Waltz. And we looked at ‘Spinal Tap’ and said, ‘Oh my God.’ I think I said stupid things like that once.’”
“We thought, ‘We can never take ourselves seriously again,'” jokes drummer Chris Frantz, 72, who is also Weymouth’s husband.
Some of the film’s most mesmerizing moments include Byrne swaying back and forth with a floor lamp or jogging laps around the stage. At times his distorted dance moves seem to defy physics.
“As the show progresses, there’s a feeling of surrendering to the groove,” says Byrne, 71. “It’s a kind of obsession; to let go of self-confidence and let yourself be carried away by the music, the group and the community. And in return you get something bigger than yourself.”
A big part of the excitement surrounding the film’s re-release was the unlikely reunion of the Talking Heads. Until this month, the band’s four founding members hadn’t all been in the same room together since 2002, when they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The art-funk group first came together in 1975 and enjoyed mainstream success with now-timeless hits like “Once in a Lifetime,” “Psycho Killer,” and “This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody).”
But after eight albums, the band broke up in 1991. Byrne described it as an “ugly” breakup in an interview with People magazine last month and expressed regret over his controlling, sometimes unpleasant behavior.
Since then, he’s learned to work better together, a lesson he learned with “time and experience working with other people,” Byrne now says.
“I have to say it wasn’t that bad,” Harrison agrees. “It wasn’t that tyrannical. That didn’t mean I didn’t get mad every now and then or ask, “Why didn’t he listen to me?” But everyone in the band contributed; There was a real interplay of ideas. And David is the singer, so there’s a leadership there that… it’s not implied, but it’s obvious that there would be. So I think it may be exaggerated.”
Weymouth and Frantz have been open about tensions with Byrne in the past, calling him “competitive,” “insecure” and “Trumpian” in previous interviews and editorials. Today they are more diplomatic, with the foursome warmly promoting the film at various events.
“He’ll never apologize, but that’s just not in his vocabulary,” Weymouth said in a separate conversation with Frantz. She reiterates how “beautiful” the experience of “Stop Making Sense” was and how real the happiness captured on screen was.
“The press loves conflict and we completely understand why people are curious about the inner workings (of the band),” says Weymouth. “But for all the little family feuds, we had the perfect chemistry musically and artistically. Therefore, in this world where there is so much suffering, it seems foolish to even get involved in all these little things.”
And now Frantz adds: “We all agree that this re-release of ‘Stop Making Sense’ will help the legacy of Talking Heads, and we all agree that Talking Heads was a unique and truly rocking band and that it worth it for everyone.” that we are here. And we get along well – that’s no problem.”