Monday, April 18, 2022

The 1981 Listening Post - Jerry Harrison - The Red and the Black

 Jerry Harrison - The Red and the Black



#554

November 1981

Jerry Harrison

The Red and the Black

Genre: David? Where’s David!?!? DAVID!?!?

4 out of 5



Highlights:

Slink



This album along with Violent Femmes’ Blind Leading the Naked proves one thing: Talking Heads were more than just David Byrne. 

Sure. Tom Tom Club. Whatever. Harrison is all over the Remain in Light/Stop Making Sense sound here and I’m loving the rhythms. 

But he can’t sing. 

Neither can David but what David brings is skittish paranoia-singing and that’s what this needs. 

Other than that, the music is spot on TH. Can only wonder what it would have been like if David was singing. 


Aha! If you ever wondered what Talking Heads would sound like if Lou Reed or Jim Steinman fronted them, it’s soooooorta like this. But not really, I’m just riffing. 


Once I got past the vocals and just let it wash over I sort of fell under it’s spell. Harrison is a long way from The Modern Lovers here but we are all made better for that. I would put this record in rotation with Nonagon Infinity, believe it or not. 

But “No More Reruns” is pretty terrible. 




https://music.apple.com/us/album/the-red-and-the-black/40459079

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