Chris Frantz, Talking Heads

HOLY MUSICIAN, BATMAN…
My most enlightening, awe-struck moment of musical inspiration during my teenage years involved hearing “Psycho Killer” on the radio. Inarguably, the song is greatness at its purest. For me, Talking Heads’ abstract lyrics, minimal instrumental parts, and distinctive style changed my perspective on artistic intention, relaying the “less is more” mantra music teachers often preach. Pushing technical showmanship aside for a greater piece of music, drummer Chris Frantz was especially notable in taking this approach.

Talking Heads didn’t just have a rhythm section – they were a rhythm section. Their songs are like logical yet inventive collections of rhythmic cells played by each contributing instrument. Even David Byrne’s singing usually had a more rhythmic than melodic quality to it, often repeating the same note during verses. Their music was, however, especially enlivened by Frantz’s drum set. Frantz was the unwavering, steady backbone that fueled the Heads’ unrelenting energy. His beats were often basic, but quirky and a notable part of the band’s overall sound.

Frantz had a knack for playing with enough spark to complement the rest of the band without being overpowering. His accented 4/4 groove enhances the keyboard and guitar parts in “The Book I Read,” off their first album, 77. And his fills, neither overly complex nor too sparse, supplement space in the music nicely. Frantz barely plays on anything but the downbeat in “Psycho Killer,” allowing the bass melody to shine through. On later albums, basic beats are busier, like the band’s instrumental arrangements and background vocals, and often polyrhythmic with other percussion instruments or loops. Frantz’s parts continue to complement the most prominent moments of the song – an open hi hat on the downbeat of almost every measure is an effective lead-in for Byrne’s vocals in “Cities,” from 1979’s Fear of Music.

The pinnacle of Talking Heads’ genius for me, and for many others, is Remain in Light, the album that followed Fear of Music. The band strays from minimalism almost entirely on this record, and the numerous African-influenced instrumental elements sometimes enter the realm of esoteric madness. Yet Frantz consistently provides the band’s essential rhythmic structure with steadily performed grooves. In “Crosseyed and Painless,” for example, Frantz’s drumming is strong and solid, and, coupled with a cowbell loop that only varies during Byrne’s lyrical break about “facts,” keeps the sparse, quick guitar, bass, and keyboard rhythms connected.

Frantz might not have performed all of the more complex percussive rhythms heard in the band’s music, but he was often the creative force behind them. In a recent radio interview, the drummer discussed the tom tom fills in the 1983 single, “Burning Down the House.” The percussionist Steve Scales, who played for Talking Heads’ film Stop Making Sense, performed the fills on concert tom toms, but the part was Frantz’s concept. While Frantz knew when to pull back technically, he also knew how to materialize his and his band members’ artistic visions – he was the glue that held together the artful constructions of this legendary art-rock band.

by Raj Mallikarjuna