David Byrne's quirkiness made for great, original music during the
'70's and '80's with Talking Heads. That same oddball artiness didn't
quite work out when he moved into film. After the surprise success of
the Stop Making Sense concert film Byrne was given a budget and free
reign to make True Stories, the 1986 movie that failed to find an
audience. It was a musical comedy set in a fictional town, Vernon,
Texas, with a series of stories Byrne took largely from tabloids,
imagining what it would be like if these wild yarns were true. Music
played a big part, with new songs written by Byrne sung by the actors or
himself and Talking Heads.
There was a full album of
the same name by the band that year, a strong seller that included the
hit Wild Wild Life. But it wasn't the soundtrack, it was the band
versions of the same songs. A soundtrack album was released, but it just
included the instrumental portions. For the first time, to coincide
with a Blu-ray reissue of the film, the full soundtrack has been
compiled, all the songs by the actors, and the incidental music and
themes in one place.
The music is better
than the movie for sure. The eerie ballad City Of Dreams, the driving
Puzzlin' Evidence, and the punchy Love For Sale are all highlight
tracks, and Byrne certainly put together a fine set of material, much
better than the next and last Talking Heads album, Naked. But having the
actors sing didn't always result in appealing versions. Dream Operator,
for instance, is a bit annoying sung by Annie McEnroe, when compared to
the Heads version. And even a legend, Pop Staples, doesn't really have
the right voice for Papa Legba. Surprisingly, John Goodman does a
fantastic vocal on the highlight People Like Us, sounding more
believable than Byrne delivering this outsider anthem.
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