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 The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

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 in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. 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 David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...

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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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'' in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists, including

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

. 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!'' and the Scottish group

Angelfish Angelfish may refer to: *Several groups of fish: **Freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the genus ''Pterophyllum'' **Marine angelfish of the family Pomacanthidae **Atlantic pomfret (''Brama brama''), sold by fishmongers as "angelfish" in Sou ...

'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 Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guit ...

self-titled debut album. He is ranked number 12 in ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

''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 publi ...

Bridgeport, Connecticut Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequo ...

. Frantz and Weymouth are also closely associated with the Compass Point All Stars 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 in the US and

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...

in the UK).

Health

On Memorial Day Weekend 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