Talking Heads: 77 (1977)

Talking Heads: 77 is the debut album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on September 16, 1977, by Sire Records. The recording took place in April 1977 at New York's Sundragon Studios. The single "Psycho Killer" reached No. 92 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.

Labels and demos

From the band's earliest days as a trio in 1975, Talking Heads were approached by several record labels for a potential album deal. The first person to approach the band was Mark Spector for Columbia Records, who saw Talking Heads perform at CBGB and invited them to record a demo album. Next would come Mathew Kaufman for Beserkley Records. Kaufman brought the trio to K&K Studios in Great Neck, Long Island, to record a three-song, 16-track demo tape containing "Artists Only", "Psycho Killer" and "First Week, Last Week". Kaufman was pleased with the results, but the band felt that they would need to improve drastically before re-entering a recording studio. The group also sent the Columbia demo to Arista Records, but when drummer Chris Frantz called Bob Feilden about it a few weeks later, he claimed the tape was lost.

In November 1975, Seymour Stein, cofounder of Sire Records, had heard Talking Heads open for the punk rock band, Ramones. He liked the song "Love → Building on Fire", and the next day, offered a recording contract, but the band was still unsure about their studio abilities, and wanted a second guitarist as well as a keyboardist to help improve their sound. They agreed to let him know when they felt more confident.

A month later, Lou Reed, who had seen a few Talking Heads shows at CBGB, invited the trio to his New York apartment, where he began to critique the group's act, telling them to slow down "Tentative Decisions", which had originally been fast and bass-heavy. Reed also suggested to David Byrne that he never wear short sleeves on stage, in order to hide his hairy arms. Over breakfast at a local restaurant, Reed expressed a desire to produce the group's debut studio album and wanted to introduce them to his manager, Jonny Podell. That same day Podell called the trio to meet at his office, where he immediately offered them a recording contract.

To assist with the contracting, the group sought out assistance from lawyer Peter Parcher, a friend of Frantz's father. The next day, the trio visited Parcher's office, where Parcher asked his partner Alan Shulman to look over the contract. Shulman told the group not to sign the deal, or else Reed and Podell would own full rights to the album and collect all profit. Talking Heads declined the deal, but maintained a respectful relationship with Reed.