6. Brian Eno & David ByrneMy Life in the Bush of Ghosts
Talking Heads was essential listening really, in my world. We were all armchair socialists and very ‘right on’ in the ’70s. There was something very cool about Talking Heads, and we loved it. It wasn’t one of those bands you had to like; it spoke to us and we played them all the time. So when this record came out, it was a no-brainer to go buy it. I’m not sure I read the music press, I don’t know how I heard about it. A record shop, probably. I knew the concept of building the track around the found vocals. Obviously, if you don’t even know that, it’s still an awesome record. But I kind of knew that before I was starting to decode how records were made, I’d read about it and it was like, "Okay, the centerpiece of the track is a found sample, and they built the music around it." Groovy as fuck, polyrhythmic vibes going on everywhere.
A major step forward as an artist, because I don’t think Mr. Byrne sings on it. He and Brian made the record, and neither of them sing on it as far as I know. Not that Mr. Eno’s a great singer, but I did love his solo work, Taking Tiger Mountain and Another Green World, another truly new piece that opened a door to another possibility. I don’t know when sampling arrived, I don’t think they did it with a sampler. I think they put it on a tape recorder and played along. But it’s kind of setting up the coming world of digital sampling as well, so it’s so of a moment.
