Happy Birthdays

 

Today, several artists are celebrating milestone birthdays. That's reason enough to revisit some of their songs. 

Let's start with Tina Weymouth, who turns 75 today. In 1981, she and her husband Chris Frantz took a break from Talking Heads and founded Tom Tom Club. With their unique combination of funk and spoken word, the band established themselves in the charts.

James Morrison, better known as Jim Bob, the other half of Carter USM, turns 65 today.  He gave as with punky guitars and a drum machine an incredible indie-pop sound. He returned this summer at full power with some great new songs.

Finally Jason Ringenberg turns 67 today. He brought us decades ago a cow-punk version of a Bob Dylan song.

Happy birthday to all of you!

Münster, Westphalia

 

Today I start for a further training for my job in Münster. I can't tell you the reason why my boss sent me for this with a younger colleague because my working time is finite but I accepted to go for the trip. Münster has an old tradition and there was the peace of Westphalia was concluded, ending the Thirty Years' War back in 1648. I was there ages ago and I remember Munster as a town worth to be visited with it's beautiful old dome and an animated old town. I am sure that we will have a nice evening in a great town before our education will start the next day.

I looked for some artist/bands from Münster to feature at this place but didn't find one that was worth for it. So I decided to take a song that shuffled from my mobile phone earlier today. Tom Tom Club was the side project by Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz as a side project from Talking Heads. They released their self-titled debut album in 1981 that was filled with funky dance-floor inspired sounds. Genius Of Love was a formidable hit at these days and many could agree with this sound for these summer.

Tom Tom Club - Genius Of Love

Funky Friday

Talking Heads appeared on the late 70s as one of these American New Wave bands that brought us a very new sound. Their first record was very experimental in a way as they were searching for their sound. Songs full of simple figures and rhythm with David Byrne's hypertensive vocals. For their second album they signed Brian Eno as a producer and they slipped more and more into black music - especially Funk. Best example was their version of Al Green's version of Take Me To The River.

A few years later they made the funk in their music perfect. The bass-line on Houses In Motion might be a good example for.

In 1980 Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz started with their side project Tom Tom Club to experiment with some different sounds. Rap, Soul and Rock based on a fundament of Funk. Of course not the music of today but in these times this kind of sound was new and we loved every kind of music that we could dance to.

And even the classic song by The Drifters sounded new and fresh these days.