7. Talking HeadsRemain In Light

I’m struck by the fact that so many of these albums I’ve chosen are dominated by an individual character. It’s like Sinatra, the man alone, the rat packer, the wisecracker, Bowie, Kate Bush. I think that’s what music is about a lot of the time – it’s not just about the tonal, melodic sounds, but the story of the character who’s getting into your head, and a story not necessarily told in a narrative form. And I say this knowing that David Byrne hasn’t constructed all this music with Talking Heads. His is not the only hand at play – the whole band was very, very musical and involved in all of this. But Byrne’s character, his voice, his persona, his look, crystallise the whole thing, especially when he gets to ‘Once In A Lifetime’. He’s not just in a buttoned-up shirt, looking a bit sweaty. Now he’s dressed as a minister, and he’s got all of the moves, and people can start to do them, which draws them into this very unusual song.

One of my favourite tracks is the last one, ‘The Overload’, which talks about the digital world. It’s basically about something going wrong with a powerful computer, I think – or at least I think that’s what’s wrong. It could also be about a human being, I suppose. But there’s this sense of darkness and the closing down of something that will unleash a kind of malevolent force. It’s very Doctor Who, actually.