Talking Heads - demos 1975

Recorded right about the time the Village Voice referred to David Byrne as a "skinny, neurasthenic Roy Orbison with the voice of a psychotic fifteen-year-old and he isn't even fifteen", these CBS demos (Heads would sign to Sire soon after) actually do sound like they could have been recorded at a parallel-universe Sun Studios, without the dripping echo, of course. It's the Heads as early as the Heads get, and they start off as tight and quiet as one would expect, with the most reserved version of "Psycho Killer" in existence. The rest is still as taut as a sailor's knot (especially the wonderful "Warning Sign"), but, just like Stop Making Sense, we can hear Byrne gradually loosening his cheeks and learning to rock as the songs progress. And just remember that Tina learned to play the bass in the cab on the way to the studio.

Psycho Killer
Sugar on My Tongue
Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
I Want to Live
I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
The Girls Want to Be With the Girls
Who Is It?
With Our Love
Stay Hungry
Tentative Decisions
Warning Sign
I'm Not In Love
The Book I Read
Love Goes to Building on Fire
No Compassion

New link added