Naked (Talking Heads album)
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''Naked'' is the eighth and final
studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by American
rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
band
Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...
, released on March 15, 1988, by
Sire Records Sire Records (formerly Sire Records Company) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records. History Beginnings The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer ...
. Following the more straightforward new wave and
pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...
sound on ''
Little Creatures ''Little Creatures'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel ...
'' and '' True Stories'', ''Naked'' marked a return to the
worldbeat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural con ...
stylings of both ''
Remain in Light ''Remain in Light'' is the fourth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on October 8, 1980 by Sire Records. It was recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas and Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia during July and Augus ...
'' and ''
Speaking in Tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...
'', blending elements of
Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...
, Latin
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
, and
art pop Art pop (also typeset art-pop or artpop) is a loosely defined style of pop music influenced by art theories as well as ideas from other art mediums, such as fashion, fine art, cinema, and avant-garde literature. The genre draws on pop art's ...
. The album's songs were formed from improvisational jam sessions recorded in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, which featured the participation of numerous guest musicians such as former Smiths guitarist
Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
and singer
Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He ...
. Lyrics and vocals were then added in
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 ...
following the Paris recordings. ''Naked'' was positively received by critics, who viewed it as a return to form for the band following the mixed responses to ''True Stories''; retrospective assessments, however, have been more lukewarm. The album was also a moderate commercial success, peaking at No. 19 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and No. 3 on the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...
, later being certified gold by both the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
and BPI. Following the album's release, Talking Heads officially went on hiatus, with its members focusing on various side-projects over the course of the next few years; frontman
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 ...
would eventually announce in December 1991 that the band had dissolved.


Recording

Wanting to try something different after their use of regional American music and the pop song format on their previous two albums ''
Little Creatures ''Little Creatures'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel ...
'' (1985) and '' True Stories'' (1986), Talking Heads decided to record their next album in
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
with a group of international musicians. According to the album's liner notes, the decision to do so was in part a reaction to the foreign policy of the
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
administration, which had grown increasingly isolationist in approach. Prior to leaving for
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the band recorded about 40 improvisational tracks that would serve as the foundation for the sessions in Paris. In Paris, the band, along with producer
Steve Lillywhite Stephen Alan Lillywhite, (born 15 March 1955) is a British record producer. Since he began his career in 1977, Lillywhite has been credited on over 500 records, and has collaborated with a variety of musicians including new wave acts XTC, Big ...
, were joined by a number of other musicians in the recording studio where they would rehearse and play for the entire day. At the end of each day, one take was selected as being the ideal version of a particular tune. "Paris is a wonderful place to work," observed drummer
Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...
in the liner notes of '' Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads''. "We were really embracing world culture fully." In the interest of freedom for the musicians, it was decided that lyrics and melodies would be left until later. The lyrics were not
overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
bed until the band returned to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
. Many of David Byrne's lyrics were improvisations sung along with the prerecorded tracks until he found something that he felt worked. In this way, the melodies and lyrics evolved in a similar fashion as the songs themselves. According to Lillywhite, the album's more organic, percussive sound was a deliberate move away from the bombastic production that he had helped make commonplace in the 1980s, stating that "It wasn't made so angular and mixed so loud as it might have been in the past. It was more of a warm sound with all for the beats compensated for." Byrne told ''
Record Mirror ''Record Mirror'' was a British weekly music newspaper between 1954 and 1991 for pop fans and record collectors. Launched two years after the ''NME'', it never attained the circulation of its rival. The first UK album chart was published in ''Re ...
'' in 1988 that many of the songs on ''Naked'' are "about human beings stripped of their pretensions; stripped of their surface trappings", which in turn inspired putting a picture of a chimpanzee on the album cover.


Critical reception

''Naked'' was well-received by critics, who hailed it as a vast improvement over ''True Stories''. Chris Willman from the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'' said the band abandoned "the stripped-down four-piece rock approach of late" in favor of a "far more eclectic big-band, world music extravaganza." In ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'',
Anthony DeCurtis Anthony DeCurtis (born June 25, 1951) is an American author and music critic, who has written for ''Rolling Stone,'' the ''New York Times'', ''Relix'' and many other publications. Career DeCurtis is a contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', w ...
called the album "stylistically bold and intellectually provocative," a "dizzying and disturbing piece of work" that "marks a return to the more open-ended, groove-oriented style the Heads defined on ''Remain in Light''." He noted that "the vital human harmony suggested by the international band of players .. is the strongest counterpoint to the album's pervasive themes of alienation and dread." He concluded by interpreting the view of the album's lyrics: "The human race consists of some pretty cool people ... but it's got a very destructive monkey on its back. Human survival is not guaranteed. With humor and good-hearted-ness 'sic''.html" ;"title="sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic''">sic.html" ;"title="'sic">'sic'' hope and fear, Talking Heads contemplate a world on the eve of destruction on this important record — and leave wide open the question of what the dawn will bring." ''Naked'' was voted the 24th best album of 1988 in ''The Village Voice''s annual Pazz & Jop poll of American critics nationwide. Robert Christgau, the poll's supervisor, regarded it as "an honest if less than sustaining internationalist gesture" and said "Byrne concealed the ricketiness of his current compositional practice by riding in on
soukous Soukous (from French '' secousse'', "shock, jolt, jerk") is a genre of dance music from Congo-Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville. It derived from Congolese rumba in the 1960s, becoming known for its fast dance rhythms and intricate guitar improv ...
's jetstream, but the trick didn't stick", attributing the band's diminished success to a weariness with the music business. In '' Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s'' (1990), he wrote, "where
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
appropriated African musicians, David Byrne just hires them, for better and worse – this is T. Heads
funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
heavy on the horns, which aren't fussy or obtrusive because Byrne knew where to get fresh ones. What's African about it from an American perspective is that the words don't matter – it signifies sonically." However, he called, "(Nothing But) Flowers" a "gibe at ecology fetishism that's very reassuring". Years later, he revised his stance on both ''Naked'' and ''True Stories'', "which I once thought overrated. I was wrong. They sucked." In a retrospective review, Michael Hastings from
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
found ''Naked'' "alternately serious and playful", allowing Byrne to continue worrying about "the government, the environment, and the plight of the working man as it frees up the rest of the band to trade instruments and work with guest musicians. It's closest in spirit to ''Remain in Light'' – arguably too close." He further stated that "the album sounds technically perfect, but there's little of the loose, live feel the band achieved with former mentor Brian Eno. It's quite a feat to pull off a late-career album as ambitious as ''Naked'', and the Heads do so with style and vitality." He concluded that "the album's elegiac, airtight tone betrays the sound of four musicians growing tired of the limits they've imposed on one another."
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
said it "marked a return to their worldbeat explorations, although it sometimes suffered from Byrne's lyrical pretensions."


Track listing

All lyrics written by
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 ...
, all music composed by Byrne,
Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
.Hastings, Michael. "Naked – Talking Heads". AllMusic. Retrieved June 27, 2011.


Cassette/CD versions


LP version


2005 DualDisc reissue bonus track

Notes * Track 8, "Mommy Daddy You and I", was listed as "Mommy Daddy" on the vinyl label * Track 12 originally appeared on the soundtrack to the film ''
Until the End of the World ''Until the End of the World'' (german: Bis ans Ende der Welt; french: Jusqu'au bout du monde) is a 1991 science fiction adventure drama film directed by German filmmaker Wim Wenders. Set at the turn of the millennium in the shadow of a world ...
''


Personnel


Talking Heads

*
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 ...
vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...
,
guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
,
keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...
,
toy piano The toy piano, also known as the ''kinderklavier'' (child's keyboard), is a small piano-like musical instrument. Most modern toy pianos use round metal rods, as opposed to strings in a regular piano, to produce sound. The U.S. Library of Congress ...
,
slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...
*
Chris Frantz Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frant ...
drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...
s, keyboard percussion *
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 ...
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
, keyboards, guitar, slide guitar,
tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, though ...
, backing vocals *
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 ...
bass, keyboards,
organ Organ may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a part of an organism Musical instruments * Organ (music), a family of keyboard musical instruments characterized by sustained tone ** Electronic organ, an electronic keyboard instrument ** Hammond ...
, backing vocals


Recording

* Nick Delre – assistant overdubbing engineer; mixing on "Mommy Daddy You and I" * James Farber – mixing on "The Facts of Life", "Totally Nude", "The Democratic Circus", "Big Daddy", "Mr. Jones" * Fernando Kral –
overdub Overdubbing (also known as layering) is a technique used in audio recording in which audio tracks that have been pre-recorded are then played back and monitored, while simultaneously recording new, doubled, or augmented tracks onto one or more av ...
bing engineer; mixing on "Cool Water" * Richard Manwaring –
recording engineer An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
* Jean Loup Morette – assistant engineer * Joseph Williams – assistant engineer * Jack Skinner – mastering * Mark Wallis – mixing on "Blind", "The Democratic Circus", "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers"


Additional musicians

*
Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...
– guitars on "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers", "Mommy Daddy You and I" and "Cool Water" * Brice Wassy –
percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...
on "Ruby Dear", "(Nothing But) Flowers", "The Facts of Life" and "Big Daddy" * Abdou M'Boup – percussion,
talking drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...
,
conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...
s,
cowbell A cowbell (or cow bell) is a bell worn around the neck of free-roaming livestock so herders can keep track of an animal via the sound of the bell when the animal is grazing out of view in hilly landscapes or vast plains. Although they are t ...
on "Blind", "Mr. Jones", "Totally Nude" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" * Yves N'Djock – guitar on "Blind", "Totally Nude" and "(Nothing But) Flowers" *
Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo player, and multi-instrumentalist, whose most commercially successful recording was his banjo solo in "Dueling Banjos," featured as the theme of the film ''Deliver ...
pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a Console steel guitar, console-type of steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings to enable playing more varied and complex music than any previous steel guitar design. Like all s ...
on "Totally Nude" and "Bill",
dobro Dobro is an American brand of resonator guitars, currently owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally ...
on "The Democratic Circus" *
Mory Kanté Mory Kanté (29 March 195022 May 2020) was a Guinean vocalist and player of the kora harp. He was best known internationally for his 1987 hit song " Yé ké yé ké", which reached number-one in Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, and Spain. Th ...
kora on "Mr. Jones" and "The Facts of Life" *
Wally Badarou Waliou Jacques Daniel Isheola "Wally" Badarou (born 22 March 1955) is a French musician. Born in France with ancestry from Benin, West Africa, Badarou is known for his close association with the English group Level 42, and for his prolific work ...
– keyboard on "Blind" and "The Facts of Life" *
Manolo Badrena Manolo Badrena (born March 17, 1952, in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a percussionist most noted for his work with Weather Report from 1976 to 1977. He has made contributions to over 100 recordings that span jazz, world music, pop, and Latin music. B ...
– percussion, congas on "Mr. Jones" and "Mommy Daddy You and I" *Sydney Thiam – congas on "The Democratic Circus", percussion on "Bill" *
Lenny Pickett Lenny Pickett (born April 10, 1954) is an American saxophonist and musical director of the ''Saturday Night Live'' band. From 1973 to 1981 he was a member of Tower of Power. He is known for his skill in the altissimo register (executed by using ...
saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...
s on "Blind" and "Big Daddy" * Steve Elson – saxophones on "Blind" and "Big Daddy" *
Robin Eubanks Robin Eubanks (born October 25, 1955) is an American jazz and jazz fusion slide trombonist, the brother of guitarist Kevin Eubanks and trumpeter Duane Eubanks. His uncles are jazz pianist Ray Bryant and bassist Tommy Bryant. His mother, Vera Eub ...
trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
on "Blind", "Big Daddy" and "Mr. Jones" *
Laurie Frink Laurie Ann Frink (August 8, 1951, Pender, Nebraska – July 13, 2013, New York City) was an American jazz trumpeter who worked primarily in big band idioms. Frink attended the University of Nebraska (1969-1972) and studied under Jimmy Maxwell (1 ...
and Earl Gardner
trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
s on "Blind" and "Big Daddy" *
Stan Harrison Stan Harrison (born December 8, 1953) is an American saxophonist who is also accomplished in playing other woodwind instruments, namely the horn, flute and clarinet. He has also written music for television. Harrison released his first solo album ...
alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in E, smaller than the B tenor ...
on "Blind" and "Big Daddy" * Al Acosta –
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...
on "Mr. Jones" * Steve Gluzband – trumpet on "Mr. Jones" * Jose Jerez – trumpet on "Mr. Jones" * Bobby Porcelli – alto saxophone on "Mr. Jones" * Steve Sacks –
baritone saxophone The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...
on "Mr. Jones" * Charlie Sepulveda – trumpet on "Mr. Jones" * Dale Turk –
bass trombone The bass trombone (german: Bassposaune, it, trombone basso) is the bass instrument in the trombone family of brass instruments. Modern instruments are pitched in the same B♭ as the tenor trombone but with a larger bore, bell and mouthpiece to ...
on "Mr. Jones" * Arthur Russell - cello on "Bill" * Moussa Cissokao – percussion on "Ruby Dear" * Nino Gioia – percussion on "The Facts of Life" * Philippe Servain –
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...
on "Totally Nude" *
James Fearnley James Fearnley (born 9 October 1954, Worsley) is an English musician. He played accordion in the Celtic punk band The Pogues. Life and career As a child he was a choir treble before his voice changed at the age of sixteen. He took piano less ...
– accordion on "Mommy Daddy You and I" *
Phil Bodner Philip L. Bodner (June 13, 1917 – February 24, 2008) was an American jazz clarinetist and studio musician who also played flute, oboe, saxophone, and English horn. Career A native of Waterbury, Connecticut, Bodner worked as a studio musician ...
cor anglais The cor anglais (, or original ; plural: ''cors anglais''), or English horn in North America, is a double-reed woodwind instrument in the oboe family. It is approximately one and a half times the length of an oboe, making it essentially an alto ...
on "Cool Water" *
Don Brooks Don Frank Brooks (8 March 1947, in Dallas, Texas – 25 October 2000, in Manhattan, New York) was an American blues harmonica performing artist. Career Brooks was a full-time harmonica player with Waylon Jennings and was a prolific session musici ...
harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...
on "Big Daddy" *
Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He ...
– backing vocals on "(Nothing But) Flowers" and "Bill" * Alex Haas –
whistling Whistling without the use of an artificial whistle is achieved by creating a small opening with one's lips, usually after applying moisture (licking one's lips or placing water upon them) and then blowing or sucking air through the space. The a ...
on "Bill"


Charts


Weekly charts


Year-end charts


Certifications and sales


References

{{Authority control 1988 albums Albums produced by David Byrne Albums produced by Chris Frantz Albums produced by Jerry Harrison Albums produced by Tina Weymouth Albums produced by Steve Lillywhite Sire Records albums Talking Heads albums Worldbeat albums World music albums by American artists cs:Naked