Jerry Harrison, ‘Stop Making Sense’ comes to UC Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz Sentinel

Jerry Harrison, from left, David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads pose for a portrait to promote the film “Stop Making Sense” during the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2023. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)

A long time ago, in a record store far, far away – well, not that far away, but it WAS decades ago – I walked out of Cymbaline Records on Center Street with three albums: The Pretenders, The Ramones. Rocket to Russia” and something called “Talking Heads ’77”. Little did I know that these three would be a part of my desert island collection forever. (You know the drill: you’re hypothetically stuck on a desert island with only a volleyball to talk to, so what records do you take?)

The Talking Heads were unlike anything I had heard before. They were lumped in with punk, but there were no screaming guitars or punk angst. So how do you describe The Talking Heads? I recently went straight to one of the sources: founding member Jerry Harrison, who played keyboards and lead guitar in the band.

In a phone interview, I spoke to Harrison about the band’s early days, how they became one of the biggest bands in the world, and what led to their legendary Jonathan Demme-directed concert film, “Stop Making Sense.” The film will screen at UC Santa Cruz’s Quarry Theatre on July 13. And Harrison will play Talking Heads’ “Remain In Light” and other songs by his former band track by track on August 16.

Harrison acknowledged that their debut album was unique. “We’ve had a lot of them,” he said. “It was a unique time for music. When we came out, a lot of people had no idea of ​​our influences. Then we covered (the Al Green classic) “Take Me to the River” and people realized that R&B was our big influence. Harrison joined the group from Jonathan Richman’s Modern Lovers, another pioneering group of this period. “For me, coming from that band, I appreciated the simple melodies and not being influenced by the blues.”

They cut their teeth in the legendary CBGB nightclub in New York, sharing the bill with punk groups of the time like The Ramones, Blondie and Television. There was a common thread that connected all of this music. “It was the era of Emerson, Lake, Palmer and Yes with their grandiose version of rock and roll,” Harrison laughed. “What everyone shared at CBGBs were short, unusually concise songs. The length of the songs resembled early Buddy Holly songs or early rock songs, with three to four minutes at most.

“It also came from the fact that CBGBs had five or six bands in one night. So you would have half an hour to play. And the Ramones would do 15 songs. (less than two minutes each). The Talking Heads also believed in this short and sweet philosophy.

They frequently tour as a quartet, with Harrison trading keyboard and lead guitar, depending on the song. “The more we played together, the more David and my guitar became adept at playing together. We competed very well. I would choose which instrument was best for each song, go back and forth, and we would go from there.

After a few records, their 1980 album “Remain In Light” was a bigger project. “When David and I were mixing the album, I realized that to play properly we would need another keyboard player, another percussionist and a second bass player. On the first tour we were a quartet, then we slowly introduced the rest of the band. It was still one of the most incredible shows we’ve ever done because people were so shocked and surprised. It was built piecemeal on stage as the concert progressed.

This group-making effect is what was chronicled in the award-winning 1984 concert film, “Stop Making Sense.” Recorded over three nights in a Los Angeles theater and helmed by director Jonathan Demme, a simple Google search tells you that it is widely considered one of the best concert films ever made. For its 40th anniversary, Harrison remixed all the audio to best fit the latest theater sound systems.

There is also a local connection to the re-release of “Stop Making Sense”. I recently spoke with filmmaker James Mackoski. He grew up in Aromas, studied film at UCSC and worked as an archivist in Los Angeles. After a few years, he wanted to come back to the San Francisco Bay Area and was fortunate to be hired in 2002 by Francis Ford Coppola to “master their collection and catalog it properly.” James quickly worked to preserve films such as “The Outsiders” and “Cotton Club.”

In the case of “Stop Making Sense,” James said, “H14 Studios, who I worked with 10 years prior, asked me to oversee the restoration of the film. » The first challenge was FINDING the true negative – it’s been 40 years, remember. James and his team called “everywhere, asking ‘where did the original camera negative go?’ We even passed warehouses in Los Angeles that were closing. We finally found what we needed at a warehouse in Burbank. And we hadn’t touched it for 30 years!

The restored 4K and remixed version of “Stop Making Sense” will be screened at UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheater on July 13. And Jerry Harrison teams up with Adrian Belew (former guitarist for King Crimson and David Bowie, among others) and a full band at the theater. on August 16. Tickets for both events are available at quarryamphitheatre.com.

Michael Gaither is a local songwriter, KPIG radio DJ, and in a previous life was also a writer for The Santa Cruz Sentinel.