Tom Tom Club

Description

Talking Heads drummer Chris Franz and bassist Tina Weymouth formed Tom Tom Club to continue exploring the polyrhythmic experiments conducted on the Heads' Remain in Light release. On this self-titled debut, the husband-and-wife team mixed urban and arty new wave elements, generating two mammoth dance-floor hits. "Wordy Rappinghood" is a study in art-school rap as it percolates along with the help of funk beats and synthesized bleeps. The brilliant "Genius of Love" gives props to James Brown. A slow, slinky funk masterpiece, it includes call-and-response vocals, a rap, and a lilting melody. "L'Elephant" is a pure delight, rollicking like a nursery rhyme from some ultrahip daycare center. The band also tackles the doo-wop standard "Under the Boardwalk," though it feels like a mere novelty item. Still, Tom Tom Club proves that David Byrne wasn't the only genius in Talking Heads. --Steve Gdula