1983 was was an incredibly fertile year for the the Talking Heads. The companion album to Jonathan Demme’s Stop Making Sense made an effort at capturing the band’s live mojo, but due to its length (neutered at nine tracks) failed to paint a complete picture. Thankfully there are a number of high-quality boots in circulation. The below show, a soundboard recorded in August of ‘83 in Saratoga, NY, captures this period beautifully. I ripped the FLAC files to 256 kbps mp3s. Highest recommendation.
UPDATE: Apparently three files (Big Business >I Zimbra > Houses In Motion) in the second set are corrupted for some folks, so here is a zip with those trax. Grab it
Download (Zipped Folder 86 MB): Talking Heads :: Saratoga, NY August 1983( Disc I)
Download (Zipped Folder 136 MB): Talking Heads :: Saratoga, NY August 1983 (Disc II)
Set 1:
Talking Heads :: Psycho Killer
Talking Heads :: Heaven
Talking Heads :: Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
Talking Heads :: Building On Fire
Talking Heads :: Book I Read
Talking Heads :: Slippery People
Talking Heads :: Cities
Talking Heads :: Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)
Talking Heads :: Burning Down The House
Talking Heads :: Life During Wartime
Set 2:
Talking Heads :: Making Flippy Floppy
Talking Heads :: Swamp
Talking Heads :: What A Day That Was
Talking Heads :: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Talking Heads :: Once In A Lifetime
Talking Heads :: Big Business >
Talking Heads :: I Zimbra
Talking Heads :: Houses In Motion
Talking Heads :: Genius Of Love (Tom Tom Club)
Talking Heads :: Girlfriend Is Better
Talking Heads :: Take Me To The River
Encore:
Talking Heads :: Crosseyed And Painless
+ Download Talking Heads via eMusic’s 25 free MP3 no risk trial offer
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Very nice.
I don’t think I would have fully appreciated catching them on this tour as a 5 year old, but still wish I could have been there nonetheless.
1 | leach January 28th, 2010 at 1:32 pmWhat a jem. I was there. It’s a shame the venue lost it’s ability to stage such an act these days….Live Nation just rocks.
2 | Joe January 28th, 2010 at 1:42 pmthanks again, AD!!!
3 | theMike January 28th, 2010 at 2:25 pmA wonderful show – thank you!
However, I’m having issues with two of the songs in the 2nd zip – “I Zimbra” and “Houses in Motino” are coming up as “file is corrupted” when I unzip.
4 | Brian January 28th, 2010 at 3:27 pmHmm, I just checked the files on my laptop and both seem fine. Could be something happened during the compression. Are the rest OK? I can just add those two tracks separately if so.
5 | Satisfied '75 January 28th, 2010 at 3:32 pmI’m having the same problem as Brian. Great show though.
6 | Chad January 28th, 2010 at 3:34 pmHere are those trax, hopefully a fix: http://www.mediafire.com/?2ya1mg4kjxm
7 | Satisfied '75 January 28th, 2010 at 3:50 pmThanks! This is awesome. I posted up a video of the Talking Heads on Letterman on Tuesday from the same year (‘83) doing “I Zimbra”
A must see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI3oswxdeUw
8 | uwmryan January 28th, 2010 at 5:03 pmThis is easily one the top shows in my live music collection. An excellent soundboard which catches the band at the height of their creative powers. Thanks so much for sharing.
9 | aburtch January 28th, 2010 at 8:00 pmThank You to whomever posted this, I was at this show, and it’s great to be able to
10 | doug January 28th, 2010 at 8:17 pmhear it again.
@Satisfied
Thanks for the fixed tracks – that did it!
You also read my mind – it was “Big Business” and not “I Zimbra” that wasn’t unzipping.
11 | Brian January 28th, 2010 at 8:43 pmSweet!
Anyone know of a good boot of the Forrest Hills Show? I was there and it’s the only one where the Weymouth sisters performed Genius of Love.
12 | WW85 January 28th, 2010 at 11:00 pmThank you, thank you, thank you!
..seriously, thank you.
13 | Rob January 29th, 2010 at 2:58 pmI saw them twice on this tour. The evoloution from Byrne with the beatbox to the whole ensemble was such a great idea. Great to have the whole process captured. Thanks
14 | Bsmif January 29th, 2010 at 5:14 pmhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/bsmif/3613438530/
I’m having the same problem as Brian, only I can’t get the last three on disc 2 and the Encore. (I couldn’t unzip anything after “Once in a Lifetime” but the fix gave me 3 of them.)
15 | Alan January 29th, 2010 at 8:29 pmOnly ever saw them once in about ‘78 or ‘79…would have loved to have seen this incarnation of the band – great show.
16 | Pete January 29th, 2010 at 8:37 pmThis is fantastic. Thanks for hosting this, and for taking the time to repost the fixed tracks. Awesome stuff.
17 | Joe January 30th, 2010 at 9:18 am[...] hurry up and get them. Download sites take stuff down after a few days) They are from 1977 and 1983. The 1977 show was when punk rock/new age was a rumor to much of America. David Byrne teamed up [...]
18 | Talking Heads « Chamblee54 January 30th, 2010 at 1:03 pm[...] than that I know very little. I’m bringing this back up as, due to a recent Talking Heads binge, I’ve been spinning the record’s A-side a lot; Kindness’s cover of the [...]
19 | Aquarium Drunkard » Kindness :: Swinging Party February 5th, 2010 at 2:33 pm[...] Talking Heads Live, 1983: You may or may not love them but this is a great full-length concert from the band at its peak. [...]
20 | When mp3 Saved The Day : Download Central February 6th, 2010 at 6:32 amThis show was amazing. The build up from solo to full band added an energy and excitement that was unmatched.
21 | dave February 17th, 2010 at 12:47 pmI am so happy these files were still available for download. I missed these when they were originally posted and I am thrilled to get them. Wow!
22 | zbert February 27th, 2010 at 12:15 am