ALBUM: Tom Tom Club (1981)
MVC Rating: 4.0/$$$$
This album has a great album cover by artist James Rizzi. The Tom Tom Club, which was the Talking Heads without leader David Byrne, sounds like the cover looks.
Funny, crazy, colorful and noisy. Cartoon figures of the band and others are crammed onto the cover amid dozens of little drawings — hearts, dollar signs, squiggles and wiggles. Giraffes, military fighter jets and microphones.
Whew! It’s enough to spin the head of the Rev. Howard Finster.
The music mostly fits the cover. There are hints of the advent of Electronic Dance Music, although it sounds more organic than dialed in — which is a good thing.
But one has to remember this was cutting edge about four decades ago. Now, not so much. Funny how that works: How art competes for immortality yet often is yesterday’s news. Sometimes it takes a long time to decide which is which.
Talking Heads’ married couple Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, were the main creators of TTC.