'Stop Making Sense' still burning down the house after 40 years | Mark Hinson

David Byrne’s iconic big suit is about to get even bigger.

The legendary, groundbreaking foursome Talking Heads recently reunited for a screening of their restored concert film “Stop Making Sense” at an IMAX in Toronto. The 40^th anniversary rerelease of “Stop Making Sense,” just the film, will open on the five-story screen at the IMAX in the Challenger Learning Center in downtown Tallahassee on Sept. 22.

“This is the greatest concert film ever, I’m going on record,” Oscar-winning director Spike Lee told the band members during a Q&A following the screening in Toronto.

“Stop Making Sense,” originally released into theaters in 1984, also has a close connection to Tallahassee. Allow me to explain.

On Oct. 14, 1983, The Talking Heads performed on stage at the Tucker Civic Center as the headliner for Florida State University’s Pow Wow, now known as Homecoming Live. The concert tour, which is the same one captured live in “Stop Making Sense,” remains the best live act I have ever seen.

Yeah, it was that good.

A real live wire

The show, same as the film, opened as a solo Byrne walked onto the stage carrying a boom box and an acoustic guitar. He pushed a button on the boom box and a drum track began playing. Byrne launched into the first Talking Heads hit “Psycho Killer” and it was off to the races.

As members of the band and special guests such as keyboardist Bernie Worrel joined Byrne one by one, the band played such spirited tunes as “Slippery People,” “Burning Down the House” and “Life During Wartime.” Pretty soon, the stage was alive with backup singers and supporting players. It was all so theatrical – yet organic at the same time.

When Byrne took a break, The Tom Tom Club, a hit band featuring Heads drummer Chris Frantz and bassist Tina Weymouth, performed the much-sampled “Genius of Love.” Two stellar groups for the price of one.

Byrne returned to stage wearing The Big Suit, inspired by the exaggerated style of Japanese theater, for an inspired version of “Girlfriend Is Better.” The crowd and I at the Tucker Civic Center went nuts.

Enter Jonathan Demme

Two months past the Tallahassee stop, after members of the Talking Heads raised the filming budget of $1.2 million, director Jonathan Demme (“Melvin and Howard”) was brought on board to shoot the show live over four nights in Los Angeles.

Demme’s idea to illuminate the audience members at the Pantages Theatre to capture their reactions spooked them as well as the band. The Talking Heads gave a rare uninspired performance because they could see everyone staring at them. The lights were nixed, and the cameras were placed squarely on the band and the music. Smart move. Demme and the audience is seen briefly, all smiles of course, at the end of “Stop Making Sense.”

When the movie opened at the now-defunct Parkway 5 on the Apalachee Parkway in Tallahassee, moviegoers were literally dancing in the aisles.

Demme’s next stop in the spring of 1985 would be Tallahassee, where he shot most of the hellzapoppin’ road trip pic “Something Wild” (1986). The movie starred Melanie Griffith, Jeff Daniels and newcomer Ray Liotta. Besides cameos by directors such as John Waters (“Hairspray”) and John Sayles (“Matewan”), Demme also employed locals such as actress-FAMU professor Dana Preu and artist-FSU professor Jimmy Roche.

The artist and director struck up a lifelong friendship that included Roche appearing in nearly all Demme’s feature films as well as frequent returns to Tallahassee to visit the Roche family.

“Tallahassee is part of the world that I love, with its deep Southern history and its culture,” Demme told me in 2011. “It turned out to be an enduring relationship.”

Of course, Demme will be best remembered for his box office smash “Silence of the Lambs” (1999), which swept the top five Oscars categories, including best director and best picture. It also set Dr. Hannibal Lecter loose in the public imagination. Demme died of cancer in 2017. He was 73.

Burying the hatchet

The Talking Heads fractured apart in 1991 after Frantz read about Byrne leaving the band for solo projects in a Los Angeles Times article.

“As a younger person, I was not as pleasant to be around,” Byrne told People magazine in August. “When I was working on some Talking Heads shows, I was more of a little tyrant. … I think (the end) wasn’t handled well. It was all kind of ugly.”

September 2023 is a different story. The four, which includes keyboardist-guitarist Jerry Harrison, have been making the rounds for TV stories, lunches, another movie screening in Brooklyn and visits to Great Jones Street in Lower Manhattan where the band started in the mid-‘70s.     

“It’s been fun,” Frantz said on Facebook.

Bryne even winked at his past in an ad for the rerelease of “Stop Making Sense.” The singer picks up The Big Suit from the cleaners after many years and takes it home to try on. It still fits.

Yes, it sure does.

Music: A few thoughts about Florida icon and billionaire beach bum Jimmy Buffett | Mark HInson

That’s one gigantic ‘Barbie’

When “Barbie” opened nationwide in late July, conservative commentators such as Ben Shapiro went on rants against the doll-based movie. It was too feminist, too “woke,” too, I am guessing, smart.

“The repeat business on this movie is nonexistent,” Shapiro predicted on opening weekend in July.

So far, here in mid-September, the “Barbie” movie has raked in $1.4 billion worldwide at the box office. That’s billion with a “b.” “Barbie” is currently ranked No. 14 in terms of business across the globe.

Someone keeps watching this bright pink satire.

Now the Greta Gerwig-helmed smash hit musical is being shown on the large screen at the downtown IMAX starting Sept. 22. The movie stars Margot Robbie (“The Wolf of Wall Street”) in the title role and Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”) as Ken.

Oh, yeah, Mr. Shapiro, as of this past weekend, “Barbie” just passed “The Avengers” (2012) take of $623 million at the domestic box office.

Remember, in Barbieland, anything is possible.

Mark Hinson is a former senior writer for The Tallahassee Democrat. He can be reached at mark.hinson59@gmail.com 

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: David Byrne's 'Stop Making Sense' film back on the big screen in 2023