Talking Heads’ singer David Byrne once said “To shake your rump is to be environmentally aware.” It goes to show, not only is Byrne as sassy as Beyoncé but he is also as eco-conscious as Attenborough. A weird mixture, sure, but it’s one that works.
Known for dancing in a way that’s fit for scientific study, being thrown out of his school choir (I repeat, choir) for being an oddball, choosing to play the guitar right-handed despite being left-handed – these are all attributes which make Byrne a fascinating man to watch. Here are David Byrne’s finest moments, and by that we mean the things that make him ridiculously cool.
Forget Anchorman‘s Brick Tamland, Byrne was the real man to make us love lamp. In Talking Heads’ feature-length documentary, Stop Making Sense, David Byrne dances with a lamp at the end of ‘This Must Be The Place (Naïve Melody)’. You might think he looks like a drunk child having a fight with a light, but that’s all part of Byrne’s deceptive genius. If anything, you just don’t see enough men dancing with lamps these days.
In The Simpsons episode Dude, Where’s My Ranch? Byrne produces Homer’s song about Ned Flanders. In typical fashion Byrne also tries to make an “extended salsa mix” of the original Flanders’ song, with the lyrics, “¡No nos gusta Flanders! ¡Es un hombre stupido”. Ay caramba.
3 Collaborating With Arcade Fire And Also St Vincent
Arcade Fire and David Byrne are an absolute dream team. Byrne supplied backing vocals on Arcade Fire’s ‘Speaking In Tongues’ which appeared on the deluxe edition of their 2010 scorcher ‘The Suburbs’. Not stopping there the Talking Heads singer also released a mammoth album with Annie Clark of St. Vincent in 2012, ‘Love This Giant’. He’s got an eye for talent and he’s trendier than a ruddy hashtag.
4 Big Suits
Synonymous with David Byrne is his ability to keep tailors busy. In Stop Making Sense, Byrne comes out for ‘Girlfriend Is Better’ (the lyrics of which make up the title of the film) in a suit which is bigger than One Direction’s fan base. Sure he may look like a pupil whose parents have intentionally bought him a big uniform in the hope that he’ll fit it over time, but with his unbeatable bedroom-dancing it’s just altogether sharp.
David Byrne is so fascinating he can actually interview himself several times and it would be more interesting than the doggerel spouting out of most presenters’ mouths. He interviews himself as a lady, a punk, an older gentleman and it’s all a bit Twin Peaks, but when interviewing yourself is this much fun – who’d want to start making sense?