True Stories (Talking Heads album)

True Stories is the seventh studio album by American rock band Talking Heads. It was released on September 15, 1986, by Sire Records, preceding lead singer David Byrne's related film True Stories.

True Stories
Studio album by Talking Heads
Released	September 15, 1986 (1986-09-15)
Recorded	February–June 1986
Studio	Sigma Sound, New York City O'Henry Sound, Toluca Lake, California Studio Southwest, Sunnyvale, Texas The Arcadia Theater, Dallas, Texas
Genre	New wave pop rock
Length	40:33
Label	Sire
Producer	Talking Heads
Talking Heads chronology
Little Creatures (1985) True Stories (1986) Naked (1988)
Singles from True Stories
"Wild Wild Life" Released: August 1986[1] "Love for Sale" Released: November 1986 "Puzzlin' Evidence" Released: 1986 (US) "Hey Now" Released: 1986 (Australia) "Radio Head" Released: April 1987

Content

The album includes only Talking Heads studio recordings of songs from the film; an original cast recording from the film was planned, but was not released at the time, although some actors' performances were featured on singles of songs drawn from the album. Later that year, Byrne released the album Sounds from True Stories containing incidental music from the soundtrack. In 2018, a complete film soundtrack album was finally released, combining cast performances from the film and tracks from the two previous albums; only those three performances by Talking Heads from the first True Stories album that are actually heard in the film were included.^[2]

The single "Wild Wild Life" became the most prominent hit from the album, accompanied by its video airplay on MTV. The "Wild Wild Life" video won two MTV Video Music Awards in 1987: "Best Group Video" and "Best Video from a Film" (the video is in fact an extended sequence lifted directly from the film itself). A video for "Love for Sale" was created for use in the film (during a sequence when a woman, played by Swoosie Kurtz, watches the video on TV), and an extended version was later released as a video in its own right.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, the album was re-released and remastered by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (an extended mix of "Wild Wild Life", "Papa Legba" with vocal by Pops Staples, and "Radio Head" with vocals by Tito Larriva). The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "Wild Wild Life" and "Love for Sale". In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.^{[citation needed]}

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
Chicago Tribune	[4]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Philadelphia Inquirer	[6]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[7]
Spin Alternative Record Guide	6/10[8]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B[9]
Uncut	8/10[10]
The Village Voice	B[11]

From contemporary reviews, Ken Tucker of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave the album a three out of four stars rating, stating the album was "gently melodic pop, with little of the polyrhythmic aggressiveness that has characterized recent Talking Heads albums."^[6] Tucker found that "some of the songs verge on triteness or banality" but "Love for Sale" and "People Like Us" were "beautiful rock music."^[6]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Love for Sale"	4:30
2.	"Puzzlin' Evidence"	5:23
3.	"Hey Now"	3:42
4.	"Papa Legba"	5:54

All tracks are written by David Byrne

Side two

No.	Title	Length
5.	"Wild Wild Life"	3:39
6.	"Radio Head"	3:14
7.	"Dream Operator"	4:39
8.	"People Like Us"	4:26
9.	"City of Dreams"	5:06

2006 reissue bonus tracks^[12]

No.	Title	Length
10.	"Wild Wild Life" (Extended Mix)	5:30
11.	"Papa Legba" (Pops Staples Vocal Version)	6:19
12.	"Radio Head" (Tito Larriva Vocal Version)	4:11

Legacy

The band Radiohead named themselves after the sixth track, "Radio Head".^[13]

Personnel

Talking Heads

• David Byrne – guitar, vocals
• Chris Frantz – drums
• Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitar, backing vocals
• Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, backing vocals

Additional musicians

• Bert Cross Choir – vocals on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
• Tommy Camfield – fiddle on "People Like Us"
• Paulinho da Costa – percussion on "Papa Legba", "Radio Head", and "People Like Us"
• Steve Jordan – accordion on "Radio Head"
• St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School Choir – vocals on "Hey Now"
• Tommy Morrell – pedal steel guitar on "People Like Us" and "City of Dreams"

Production

• Charles Brocco – mixing assistance
• Paul Christiensen – overdubbing engineering on "Puzzlin' Evidence"
• Nick del Ray – engineering assistance
• Mick Guzauski – mixing on "Wild Wild Life"
• Lee Herschburg – mixing on "People Like Us"
• Robin Laine – mixing assistance
• Michael McClain – overdubbing engineering on "Hey Now", "Radio Head", "People Like Us", and "City of Dreams"
• Tom Nist – mixing assistance
• Jack Skinner – mastering
• Eric Thorngren – engineering, mixing, overdubbing
• Melanie West – engineering assistance

Charts

Weekly charts Weekly chart performance for True Stories Chart (1986) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[14] 2 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] 10 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[16] 16 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] 16 European Albums (Music & Media)[18] 8 Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[19] 19 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 13 Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)[21] 1 Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[22] 17 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[23] 13 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[24] 1 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[25] 5 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 11 UK Albums (OCC)[27] 7 US Billboard 200[28] 17 Weekly chart performance for True Stories Chart (2023) Peak position Croatian International Albums (HDU)[29] 8 Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[30] 21

Year-end charts Year-end chart performance for True Stories Chart (1986) Position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[31] 32 Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[32] 84 European Albums (Music & Media)[33] 91 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[34] 17

Certifications

Certifications for True Stories

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[35]	Platinum	15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[36]	Gold	100,000^
United States (RIAA)[37]	Gold	500,000^
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 809. ISBN 9780862415419.
2. ""True Stories, A Film by David Byrne: The Complete Soundtrack" Out Now on Todomundo". Nonesuch Records. November 23, 2018. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
3. Hastings, Michael. "True Stories – Talking Heads". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
4. Kot, Greg (May 6, 1990). "Talking Heads On The Record". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
6. Tucker, Ken (September 26, 1986). "Albums". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. J28. Retrieved May 25, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
7. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Talking Heads". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 802–03. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
8. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Talking Heads". Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 394. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
9. Hull, Tom (November 27, 2023). "Grade List: Talking Heads". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
10. "Uncut - August 2015 UK". Uncut. August 1, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
11. Christgau, Robert (December 30, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
12. "Talking Heads – True Stories". Discogs. Retrieved 2024-09-08. [...] Zink Media, LLC (d/b/a Discogs), 4145 SW Watson Avenue, Suite 350, Beaverton, Oregon, USA 97005.
13. Staff, Wired. "David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music". Archived from the original on May 9, 2008.
14. Kent 1993, p. 304.
15. "Austriancharts.at – Talking Heads – True Stories" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
16. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0861". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
17. "Dutchcharts.nl – Talking Heads – True Stories" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
18. "European Hot 100 Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 42. October 25, 1986. p. 20. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Talking Heads – True Stories" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
21. "Ísland (LP-plötur)". DV (in Icelandic). October 31, 1986. p. 43. ISSN 1021-8254 – via Timarit.is.
22. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved May 29, 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "True Stories" in the "Titolo" field and press "cerca".
23. "Norwegiancharts.com – Talking Heads – True Stories". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
24. "Charts.nz – Talking Heads – True Stories". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
25. "Swedishcharts.com – Talking Heads – True Stories". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
26. "Swisscharts.com – Talking Heads – True Stories". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
27. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
28. "Talking Heads Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
29. "Lista prodaje 43. tjedan 2023" (in Croatian). Top of the Shops. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
30. "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 41. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
31. Kent 1993, p. 438.
32. "Top 100 Albums of '86". RPM. Vol. 45, no. 14. December 27, 1986. p. 9. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
33. "European Hot 100 Albums – Hot 100 of the Year 1986" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 3, no. 51/52. December 27, 1986. p. 35. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
34. "Top Selling Albums of 1986". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
35. "New Zealand album certifications – Talking Heads – True Stories". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
36. "British album certifications – Talking Heads – True Stories". British Phonographic Industry. November 6, 1986. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
37. "American album certifications – Talking Heads – True Stories". Recording Industry Association of America. November 18, 1986.

Bibliography

• Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.

External links

• True Stories at Discogs (list of releases)