TALKING HEADS - SARATOGA SPRINGS 1983
December 10, 2009 – 2:11 pm
Click on the panels for a better view or to download artwork.
TALKING HEADS
Saratoga Springs 1983 [no label, 2CD]
Live at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, NY, August 5, 1983. Very good soundboard. (This show has also been listed as August 3, 1983.)
If you are one of those who liked Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense and wondered why didn’t they release a complete concert instead of a truncated show, this one’s for you.
Creatively, Talking Heads peaked during Remain In Light (1980) and Speaking In Tongues (1983) though some would probably say it was their debut album, Talking Heads: 77, that laid the groundwork. Musically it’s hard to beat the pulsating beats and polyrhythms of Light and Tongues. With the Renaissance Man of New Wave/Rock on stage, this is one party that is visually arresting and dares anyone to sit still. And Jonathan Demme has captured it all on film.
Various versions of this show have circulated among fans, some versions whose audio quality seems worse than others (static and drop outs). Thanks then to gilde who shared this lossless version on the Dime site. glide noted: “The tapes been sitting in my vault for 24 years and I did not think to investigate until an old buddy of mine happened to mention that it was superior to all other circulating copies. That led me to do a new transfer.” Thanks also to angela for the artwork.
To cop a line from Rob Tannenbaum’s review of Little Creatures in Rolling Stone, “It brings to mind a comment Pete Townshend made to RS three years ago: ‘I like New York, but I don’t see a hell of a lot happening. David Byrne has got the weight of the whole thing on his shoulders’.” Guess that’s why Byrne got the white suit with the big shoulders.
Note: Click on the highlighted tracks to download the MP3s (these are high quality MP3s - sample rate of 192 kbps). As far as we can ascertain, these tracks have never been officially released on CD.
Due to the size of some of the files, please be very patient when downloading the tracks. It could be that the server was very busy. Please try again later. Kindly email us at mybigo@bigozine.com if you encounter persistent problems downloading the files.
Disc 1 (Set 1):
Track 101. Psycho Killer (7.2MB)
Track 102. Heaven (5.7MB)
Track 103. Thank You For Sending Me An Angel (3.2MB)
Track 104. Building On Fire (4.3MB)
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Track 105. Book I Read (6.7MB)
Track 106. Slippery People (7.7MB)
Track 107. Cities (6.9MB)
Track 108. Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open) (6.7MB)
Track 109. Burning Down The House (5.7MB)
Track 110. Life During Wartime (7.8MB)
Disc 2 (Set 2):
Track 201. Making Flippy Floppy (8.4MB)
Track 202. Swamp (7.0MB)
Track 203. What A Day That Was (8.9MB)
Track 204. This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) (7.3MB)
Track 205. Once In A Lifetime (7.5MB)
Track 206. Big Business (7.5MB)
Track 207. I Zimbra (4.1MB)
Track 208. Houses In Motion (9.4MB)
Track 209. Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club) (10.6MB)
Track 210. Girlfriend Is Better (8.6MB)
Track 211. Take Me To The River (11.5MB)
Encore:
Track 212. Crosseyed And Painless (9.9MB)
Lineup:
David Byrne – guitar
Chris Frantz – drums
Tina Weymouth – bass
Jerry Harrison – guitar
Bernie Worrell – keyboards
Steve Scales – percussion
Ednah Holt – backing vocals
Lynn Mabry – backing vocals
Alex Weir – guitar
Click here to order Talking Heads albums.
12 Responses to “TALKING HEADS - SARATOGA SPRINGS 1983”
Great! Bernie Worrell on keyboards too.
By Jonathan on Dec 10, 2009
My girlfriend at the time asked me what I wanted for my birthday and I said tickets to this show. When I got my present it was a wallet, no tickets. By then the show was sold out. Thanks for the memories, Big O!
By Reg on Dec 10, 2009
Saw this show in Nashville TN. Stunning, inventive, and musical!
By Mark Desmet on Dec 10, 2009
wasn’t Adrian Belew in this tour’s band?
By elroy on Dec 10, 2009
This aint no fooooolin’ arooouuund.
By Timmy on Dec 11, 2009
This was the most amazing show. My wife still references it. Can’t wait to hear this. Thanks and Happy Holly Daze to all!
By mystere on Dec 11, 2009
Hey, BigO! Another great show! Thanks!
Elroy, I dont think Belew was in the band at that time. As far as I remember, Belew was there for the previous Tour, for the “Remain in Light” album. In the “Speaking in Tongues” Tour, (from where “Stop Making Sense” and this gem came out)he was no longer part of the band.
Anyways, please do the same I am doing right now: Enjoying this wonderful recording.
No doubt, this is a Gem!
Cheers! Happy Holidays!
By Boschini on Dec 11, 2009
hey bigo, thanks! i’m such a fan of the syracuse 77 show i got this one too. it’s real good. i’m playing it now. it’s actually the book i read.
best,
ed
By Ed Saad on Dec 11, 2009
This is great…I thought that the expanded CD of “Stop Making Sense” was complete but some of my favorites weren’t included…”Cities”, “Eyes Wide Open” and “Houses In Motion” among them. Thanks a lot.
By ken w on Dec 11, 2009
Saw the tour open in Portland, Maine. Still the best live show I’ve seen. THANKS
By Eric on Dec 12, 2009
Was at Portland, Maine as well, then out on Cape Cod, MA. Wonderful shows, but recall Burning Down the House repeated as an encore as well.
Belew was already gone, touring with King Crimson at this time.
By David on Dec 15, 2009
Saw this tour at Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland. It remains in my top-ten favorite concert experiences. Wasn’t “Busta” Cherry Jones there as a 2nd bass player? The repeat of “Burning Down the House” happened at this show also. I always found that odd, but fun!
Thanks for this.
By Vaughn on Dec 15, 2009