Brian Eno and David Byrne's 1981 collaboration was recorded before Remain in Light but delayed by sample-clearance problems. Its title comes from Amos Tutuola's novel, though the musicians had not read it when choosing the name. The record is a constructed encounter with recorded voices and sounds.
Made across studios in Nassau and New York with producer Brian Eno in mid-1980, Remain in Light grew out of instrumental jams built on African polyrhythm rather than finished songs, with David Byrne adding scattered, half-improvised lyrics only once the band returned to the United States. Extra musicians, a struggling frontman and a near-collapse in the writing process all shaped a record now widely treated as the band's finest hour.
Talking Heads: 77 was recorded at Sundragon and Mediasound in New York across late 1976 and early 1977, with the newly complete four-piece working around a producer they found condescending by tracking vocals when he left the room. The result carries the tight, wiry sound of a band still finding its footing, built on a set of songs about restlessness, routine and getting a grip on your own life.