David Byrne: Ground-breaking genius? OR just plain insane?

Posted over 2 years ago

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David Byrne

So...David Byrne, former leader of the Talking Heads has undertaken a new project. He has written and directed a disco themed musical about the life of former Philippine's leader and avid shoe collector, Imelda Marcos. Here is a blurb about the production:Through a series of songs written by David Byrne, with musical contributions from Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook), Songs from Here Lies Love presents Imelda Marcos meditating on events in her life, from her childhood spent in poverty and her rise to power to her ultimate departure from the palace. In particular, the production looks at the relationship between Imelda and a servant from her childhood, Estrella Cumpas, who appeared at key moments in Imelda's life.And here is his website, if like me, you are still scratching your head. http://www.davidbyrne.com/here_lies_love/index.phpSomebody in NYC MUST go check this out and write a proper review(Linda...i am looking RIGHT at you!).

Comments (20)

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goodmusiconly says Sounds pretty bizarre, but it could turn out great. Of course Imelda is still around ... I wonder how she feels about having a disco musical written for her. I bet she'll wear some really great shoes to the premier!

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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Takeshi Kovacs says ground breaking genius

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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Augusts1 says It sounds like a disco version of "Evita"! David Byrne is sheer brilliance in anything he does, so I have no doubt it will be great. It sounds fascinating really. Loved all the Talking Head music & his solo work that I've heard including his forays into Latin music. He's also done a semi classical work called "The Forest" & music for an experimental dance troupe's work called "The Catherine Wheel"( I own both of these as well). Whatever Mr. Byrne touches musically turns to gold as I'm sure this will. Sure it's an odd venture seemingly but if you heard the dance troupe music & the semi classical music you wouldn't think this disco Marcos is all that strange, lol!

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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gollygee says I love David Byrne. The weirder the better! :D

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says Sounds like ground-breaking genius is winning in a landslide!

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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fairportfan says As a direct response to your post's title, i can only quote the ancient Chinese wisdom which was recently revealed to me on the menu at the Peking Moon: "One from Column A, Two from Column B"

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says hahaha....love the Michael Richard's avatar!!

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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Dale says Probably both.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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fairportfan says You talkin' to me? That's *Richard Milhouse Nixon*, son. For years, that shot appeared at least once in *Esquire* magazine's annual Dubious Achievement Awards, always captioned "Why is this man laughing?"

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says Oh! Sorry fpfan...as i look again it is Nixon...but it really looks like a cackling Michael Richards upon first glance

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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bohemianlullaby says disco eh? well this is interesting. imelda never struck me as a disco-type person. that should make it more interesting though. i've actually seen imelda. a few years ago in manila. shoe-shopping of course.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says Was she really shoe shopping? Hahaha

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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Mike the Knife says "Nutty genius" seems to fit the bill - and I'm always inclined to trust Byrne's instincts.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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bohemianlullaby says yep. for some black pumps if i do remember correctly. haha.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says Good point Mike...i think he has earned the benefit of the doubt...no matter how odd the concept sounds

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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extraordinarypoems says Sounds great to me.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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RGM says cool...

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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ebuzzmiller says i hate to be the lone detractor, but i've always thought Byrne's post T Heads career amounted to a white guy doing mediocre mambo records. I guess he's stuck being "David Byrne" so he can't just start a band and write great songs that might stick to your bones, he sees that old big white suit in his closet, thinks "I still haven't topped that" and just has to come up with convoluted bullshit like this. From the "77" record to "Speaking In Tongues", the guy was clearly producing some of the most amazing and vital music any rock and roll band/musician has ever done. I don't know what would be worse - a T Heads reunion tour, big suit included (maybe taken out an inch), playing cruise ships to adoring old farts like me; or another 20 years of David Byrne continuing to hit crap-filled Pinatas until "ideas" like the above drop out....sigh...

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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sugarbaby says Hi Blair! Although I do have a shoe collection to rival Imelda's, I don't have a time machine. Sadly, "Here Lies Love" was a one night performance that took place last weekend. However, thanks to the wonders of technology there are some clips posted on youtube.... not quite "Road To Nowhere", but it sounds very David Byrne-ish.

Permalink posted 02/10/2007
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SatisfiedMind614 says Linda....this is exactly why you are my go-to girl in NYC!! Now do you see? Do you see how long it takes for information like this to trickle down to tan jumpsuit land??

Permalink posted 02/11/2007