Tour celebrates Talking Heads' 'Remain in Light' album 40 years on

Feb. 18—When Talking Heads went into the studio to record their 1980 album, "Remain in Light," they were on the verge of breaking up.

They came out with a renewed commitment to the band, via a collection of songs that remade their sound and ended up at No. 39 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

"What they were doing was different from anything else going on at the time," said guitarist Adrian Belew, who soloed on the album's seminal track "The Great Curve" and was a longtime touring member of the band.

Now, Belew and Talking Heads co-founder and keyboardist Jerry Harrison are celebrating the iconic album — two years late, thanks to covid-19 — with a 40th anniversary tour.

The tour stops in McKees Rocks for a show at 7 p.m. March 3 in the Roxian Theatre.

"Remain in Light" departed from the group's former pop/rock sound with material that melded elements of new wave, funk, hip-hop, world beats and more.

"What made it sort of a pioneer was the way it was recorded and produced," Belew said. "They went in the studio and started laying down layers of tracks. One track might just have a guitar going 'da-da-da-da-da,' and that would go all the way through the track. The next track might be a keyboard going 'bup-a-dup-a-dup,' and that would go all the way through.

"They ended up with tons of different things to choose from, so when they were going through and mixing the song, they could create different combinations of instruments simply by bringing certain tracks in and leaving out the rest," he said.

Jumping up and down

The band asked Belew "to come in and just go crazy on top of all" after members had attended a show by Belew's band, GaGa, in New York City.

"They trapped me in the stairwell and said, 'We're making a record and would you come over and play on it?' So I went over the next morning," said Belew, who was a longtime guitarist and vocalist for the progressive rock band King Crimson and close collaborator with Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails and others.

His instructions were simple.

"For 'The Great Curve,' the instruction was, 'Go in, put your headphones on and stand around until you think there's supposed to be a guitar solo and play one. We'll write the material around that,'" Belew said. "So that's what I did."

While he played, he could see Harrison, Talking Heads front man David Byrne and producer Brian Eno in the control room "jumping up and down with happiness, so I could tell they were really enjoying what I was doing."

Belew, 73, joined Talking Heads on the tour that followed the album.

"As I toured around the world with them, it seemed like everywhere we went — a bookstore, a restaurant, anywhere you went — they were playing Talking Heads," he said. "It was their time to be famous and make it to the top, and I was right there with them."

Over the years, Belew and Harrison reminisced about that tour and thought about recreating it.

"The 40th anniversary would have been 2020, but then there was covid, and I didn't know if the tour would ever happen," Belew said. "Then Jerry produced a band called Turkuaz. When they finished, he said, 'I think I've found the perfect band.' "

The 10-piece outfit actually had started out playing Talking Heads music, Belew said.

He and his wife joined Harrison at a Turkuaz show in Nashville.

"After the third song, I turned to Jerry and I said, 'You're right, this is perfect. Let's do this.' That's when it went into full gear," Belew said.

The tour features former members of Turkuaz, Julie Slick on bass and Yahuba Garcia-Torres on percussion. In addition to "Remain in Light," the set list includes other Talking Heads material and songs from Harrison's and Belew's other projects.

Belew chose "Thela Hun Gingeet," from King Crimson's 1981 "Discipline" album.

"I knew the band, which has a three-piece horn section and two female singers, several guitars and keyboards, could do justice to that particular song," he said. "It's a real barn burner to begin with, but when you have 11 people doing it, it's really something."

True to the spirit

The Talking Heads material will stay as close to the original as possible.

"They're played a little differently because there are different people, but we try to be true to the spirit of it. That's the main thing," Belew said. "I know it's not David Byrne and (original members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth). Everyone knows that.

"All three of them have given their blessing to this, and they're very happy that we're out doing it," he said. "The music stands the test, no matter what. It doesn't matter who's playing drums, so to speak."

Harrison and Belew first reunited to perform material from "Remain In Light" at the 2021 Peach Music Festival in Scranton, marking Harrison's first live performance since 1996.

"Jerry would come to my shows and we'd always come up with the subject of how great (the 'Remain in Light') tour was," Belew said. "I had always said, what that band did at that time was something the world really needs now.

"What I loved about that band at that time was the joy that they had," he said."The band really pulled people together and made them feel good. You'd leave a show feeling better about life in general."

It's a feeling he would like to recreate for audiences on the anniversary tour.

"Even before covid, and especially since covid, I have felt in general that there's a negativity in the air, as opposed to other periods of time I've lived through," Belew said. "In the '60s, it was all joy and happiness and peace and love. It seems like in this period of time, a lot of people have very strong differences and it's a bit too serious — and rightfully so.

"There are a lot more difficulties in life now than there ever were before," he said. "Things that are happening now have never happened before, and a lot of them are very dark."

Two weeks after wrapping the first round of "Remain in Light" dates, Belew will be back on the road with a tour called Celebrating David Bowie.

"When that finishes, I go back and play more dates with Talking Heads," he said. "Then I get a little bit of a break and I'll probably go back to a new record of my own that I've been making. My hope is that I'll be out playing my music for the fall."

He hopes both of those tours will bring him back through the 'Burgh.

"You can't get rid of me, Pittsburgh — I love you too much," he said. "I've played there so many times, and before GPS, I used to get lost there a lot of times."

Tickets for the show at the Roxian start at $30.50. For information, visit roxianlive.com.

Shirley McMarlin is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Shirley by email at smcmarlin@triblive.com or via Twitter .