Tune Tag #143 with Brain of J-Hawk, Pt. 2: Talking Heads, The Who, Christopher Milk, Nona Hendryx, Joe Cocker, Jess Roden Band, Jellyfish, Radiohead

I found and invited the biggest Brain (living outside a human body) I could find to this Tag! Let's see what happens when my brain goes up against Brain's brain🧠!🤯

“Tag some Tunes you will….”

Tune Tag Welcomes Brain of J-Hawk (he/him) of Music of My Mind!

Brain and Baby Jay.

The first track of my favorite Pearl Jam album—and my favorite album opener—is “Brain of J.” I’ve been a lifelong fan, and I have a graduate degree from the University of Kansas, home of the Jayhawks.

When I’ve focused my energy on my Music of My Mind Substack, it’s been in the form of letters to our toddler son—let’s call him “Baby Jay.” I write to him about one album at a time, usually records that have shaped me, but sometimes newer albums I’ve only just discovered. In each letter, I add a bit of music history and a few little‑known facts about the artists. I’d love for you to check out these letters sometime:

Elephant

Last August, Brain’n’I Tagged our first Tunes:

Tune Tag #107 with Brain of J-Hawk: Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Neil Diamond, Blondie, All-American Rejects, Jethro Tull, Glass Animals

Last week, we met N Francis of Frank White and the Black Swans for this Tune Tag:

Tune Tag #142 with Neil of Frank White & the Black Swans: Mighty Diamonds, Caravan, Lloyd Cole, Tears For Fears, Brian Auger, Chris Youlder, Wayne Gibson, Ultra

David Levine’s Possessed. And, don’t say, “So, what else is new?”!😁

Next week, join us as we celebrate the new album release by David Levine (drops tomorrow👆Wednesday, May 6)!

👶Baby Jay sez: “Play your first song on Tune Tag #143, Daddy!”👇

Brain’s song #1 sent to Brad: Talking Heads, “The Great Curve,” 1980

Brain’s rationale: One of my favorite things in music is when I hear a studio-recorded version of a song and like it. Then, I hear a live version of it and my opinion goes from like to love!

There are many examples I could point to, but this is one I enjoy because of just how incredible the controlled chaos is onstage when I watched the Talking Heads’ 1980 performance in Rome of “The Great Curve.” David, Tina and Adrian Belew (who plays some incredible guitar solos) are just bouncing all over the stage:

Chris is destroying the drums, and Tina eventually gets on top of one of the speakers, stage right, killing her bass riffs. What’s great about this and many of the live performances I’ve seen is the addition of back-up singers.

"I was just a girl from Newark that wanted to sing a song," says Dolette McDonald, who sang backup with Talking Heads, the Police, and more. "I just lucked out with all these amazing opportunities."📸Paul Natkin/Getty Images. From an Andy Greene Rolling Stone interview with Ms. McDonald, March 3, 2021.

In this performance, it’s Parliament-Funkadelic co-founder, Bernie Worrell (see interview below), and veteran background singer, Dolette McDonald (shown above, onstage with the Heads). All of the layers to this onion (that’s a compliment because I love onions!) complement each other so well. It’s a complex and wonderful song and my favorite of Talking Heads’ catalog.

A.I. Al sez: “Nona Hendryx provided prominent background vocals on the song “The Great Curve“ from the 1980 Talking Heads album, Remain in Light. Her vocals, along with others, were recorded at Sigma Sound Studios and added to the track’s dense, rhythmic arrangement.”