Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talki ...

and

Tom Tom Club Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood", " Genius of Love", and a cover ...

, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist

Tina Weymouth Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the new wave group Talking Heads and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, Tal ...

. In 2002, Frantz was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Talking Heads.

Career

Born in

Fort Campbell Fort Campbell is a United States Army installation located astride the Kentucky–Tennessee border between Hopkinsville, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee (post address is located in Kentucky). Fort Campbell is home to the 101st Airborne Divi ...

, Kentucky, Charton Christopher Frantz graduated from

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school located in the Borough of Fox Chapel (suburban Pittsburgh), and in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

. He studied in the early 1970s at the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

, where he met both David Byrne and Tina Weymouth. Byrne and Frantz formed a band called the Artistics, which went on to become Talking Heads, in 1973. Weymouth, then Frantz's girlfriend, joined the band in 1975 after they had moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Frantz and Weymouth were married in 1977 and have two sons. Frantz and Weymouth formed

in 1980, when Talking Heads went on hiatus due to Byrne's solo efforts. Weymouth, Frantz, and

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...

reunited as The Heads for a one-off album called ''

No Talking, Just Head ''No Talking, Just Head'' is an album released in 1996 by the Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers. Its name may be seen as an allusion to the fact that ...

'' in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists, including Debbie Harry. He and Weymouth produced the

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...

' 1992 album, ''

Yes Please! ''Yes Please!'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Happy Mondays, released 22 September 1992 through Factory Records. Following the non-album single "Judge Fudge", Factory allotted the band a budget of £150,000 for their next alb ...

'' and the Scottish group Angelfish's self-titled album, in addition to producing multiple albums for

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and ...

. Frantz and Weymouth also contributed backing vocals and percussion for Gorillaz self-titled debut album. He is ranked number 12 in '' Stylus Magazine''s list of the 50 greatest rock drummers and hosts a monthly radio program, "Chris Frantz the Talking Head", on 89.5

WPKN WPKN (89.5 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Bridgeport, Connecticut. WPKN is a freeform radio station, staffed by volunteer programmers presenting a wide variety of music and publ ...

in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Frantz and Weymouth are also closely associated with the

Compass Point All Stars Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producer ...

movement. After Phish covered Talking Heads' ''Remain in Light'', Frantz become known as an influence on the modern jamband scene. Frantz's memoir, ''Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina'', was published in July 2020 (

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

in the US and Faber and Faber in the UK).

Health

Memorial Day Weekend Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...

2020, Frantz suffered a heart attack that required the insertion of three stents. In March 2022, Frantz and

were in a car collision with a drunk driver.

Bibliography

*''Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina'' (2020)

References

External links

Caroline-up's Skype Interview w/Chris Frantz 2013/17/03

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Frantz, Chris 1951 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers American new wave musicians American rock drummers New wave drummers Living people People from Christian County, Kentucky People from Fairfield, Connecticut Rhode Island School of Design alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music Rock musicians from Kentucky Shady Side Academy alumni Talking Heads members Tom Tom Club members