Talking Heads: Punk Rock, New Wave, Blackouts, and Psycho Killers (Rewind)

Summary

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DISGRACELAND

Episode: Talking Heads — Punk Rock, New Wave, Blackouts, and Psycho Killers (Rewind)

Host: Jake Brennan
Date: August 2, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of DISGRACELAND explores the interconnected rise of the Talking Heads and the terror wrought by the Son of Sam killer, David Berkowitz, in 1976-77 New York City. Jake Brennan weaves together the story of an anxious singer channeling urban paranoia into an iconic song ("Psycho Killer") and a deranged killer inspiring headlines, panic, and infamy. Against the backdrop of punk and new wave's emergence, Brennan brings to life the tension, chaos, and artistry that defined this complicated moment in music and crime history.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: NYC in the Mid-1970s

• New York is described as dangerous, dirty, crime-ridden—"a cesspool" only partly offset by excitement in its club scene.
• Punk and new wave are incubating at CBGB, with Talking Heads standing out for their awkward “uncool” look and art school sensibility (03:52).
  • Memorable image: "Talking Heads wore polo shirts with little alligators on them. Clean cut, nerdy almost. They were, as rock critic Lester Bangs put it, so uncool that they became cool."
    (05:53, Jake Brennan)

2. Parallel Stories: David Byrne and David Berkowitz

• The narrative oscillates between a silent, alienated clubgoer (Berkowitz) and a nervous, restless frontman (Byrne) as both prepare for infamy in their own ways.
• Berkowitz’s feelings of invisibility and rage brew during club nights in the suburbs, a motif mirrored in Byrne’s performance anxiety and search for musical connection (06:40–08:49).
• The Son of Sam’s 1976-77 killing spree begins, targeting random couples, with the city largely unaware of the larger threat at first (09:10).

3. Musical Creation Under Duress

• Talking Heads are recording their debut album and defining their sound with “Psycho Killer”—a song inspired by shock, alienation, and real events.
  • Behind the scenes, studio tensions run high, especially between David Byrne and producer Tony Bongiovi, who doesn't understand the band’s vision.
  • Quote: “When he did pay attention, his attempts to drop knowledge often backfired...he was holding an 8 inch long butcher knife. He walked up to David and placed the knife in his hand. ‘Look,’ Tony said, ‘You’re a psycho killer, right? It’s time to get into character.’”
    (19:48, Jake Brennan)
• The band’s solution is to finish vocals secretly with engineer Ed Stasium, subverting Bongiovi and defending bassist Tina Weymouth’s style and contribution (24:35–25:50).

4. The Son of Sam Rampage

• Stories of Berkowitz’s murders unfold in chilling, dramatized detail, capturing the terror and random violence experienced by New Yorkers (12:30–13:30; 22:28–23:40).
  • As police and media catch on, Berkowitz feeds off headlines, even sending dramatic, taunting letters to the press. -Memorable moment: The famous “Killer to Cops: I’ll do it again.” headline, reflecting Berkowitz's desire for notoriety (24:15).

5. NYC Blackout and Urban Collapse

• The 1977 blackout plunges the city into chaos—rioting, looting, and violence erupt, with both the city and Talking Heads on edge about the fate of their work (32:23–34:56).
  • Image: “David watched from the roof as an entire city block went dark, like someone had flipped off a giant power switch. Then another, and another...they watched as the entire city was plunged into darkness.”
    (32:35, Jake Brennan)
• Despite the chaos, the band’s album masters survive.

6. Climax: The Capture of Son of Sam

• Berkowitz is arrested through a mundane parking ticket, finally ending his reign of terror (41:02).
  • Quote: “A parking ticket. That’s all it took. After a reign of terror that lasted more than a year, left six people dead and another seven seriously wounded, it was a parking ticket that finally did David Berkowitz in.”
    (41:50, Jake Brennan)

7. Aftermath & Legacy

• The Talking Heads’ album is released, and "Psycho Killer" enters the charts, opening the door for a new kind of art-rock stardom.
• David Byrne and the band turn to producer Brian Eno, rapidly evolving their sound and aesthetic (44:45–45:30).
• Reflection on what differentiated Byrne and Berkowitz: art as an outlet for alienation versus violence as an expression of rage.
  • Reflective question (Jake Brennan, 45:43):
    “It’s enough to make you wonder: If [Berkowitz] had found his place, could this have been stopped? Could David Berkowitz have turned out like David Byrne? Or was he simply destined for evil, for disgrace?”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On CBGB’s Scene:
  “Not much remained of Hilly’s original vision of what was once called country, bluegrass and blues. Instead, the club was the epicenter of a new wave of music powered by bands including Television, Blondie, the Ramones, and tonight’s headliner, Talking Heads.”
  (04:10, Jake Brennan)

• On Creating “Psycho Killer”:
  “The cold, detached persona that David created so easily on stage at CBGB was no match for the cold, detached atmosphere of the recording studio’s isolated vocal booth.”
  (17:45, Jake Brennan)

• Conflict in the Studio:
  “He wanted David to scream soulfully like Al Green, instead of delivering a cold monotone like Lou Reed. He wanted a novelty song. The song wasn’t a joke. This was David’s life. If they didn’t get it right this go round, there would not be another.”
  (20:50, Jake Brennan)

• On Berkowitz’s Notoriety:
  “David Berkowitz had achieved the type of fame a guy like David Byrne could only dream of.”
  (39:23, Jake Brennan)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Club scene intro, the two Davids: 03:47 – 09:05
• Rise of punk/new wave at CBGB: 04:10 – 05:56
• Shooting of Donna Lauria & Jodi Valenti: 09:10 – 13:30
• Talking Heads’ studio struggles, ‘Psycho Killer’: 17:35 – 22:00
• Berkowitz’s letters and escalation: 23:30 – 25:46
• NYC blackout and album completion: 32:16 – 34:56
• Police hunt, Berkowitz’s arrest: 41:00 – 43:50
• Release of Talking Heads’ debut, comparison/legacies: 44:56 – 46:00

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Tone & Storytelling Style

• Jake Brennan’s language is urgent, vivid, and theatrical, dramatizing true events as “audio storytelling.”
• An undercurrent of nervous energy runs throughout, mirroring the paranoia and innovation that define both the music and the crimes of this era.
• The episode ends with a poignant, open-ended musing on fate, creativity, and the boundaries between genius and madness.

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Summary Takeaway

This episode of DISGRACELAND is a riveting intersection of true crime and music history, presenting the birth of the Talking Heads alongside the brutal rise and fall of the Son of Sam. Through kinetic storytelling and immersive scenes, listeners are transported to the sweaty, anxious, and creatively explosive heart of late-‘70s New York—a place where art, terror, and notoriety intertwine, and where the difference between cult hero and cult killer hangs by a thread.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

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Goodbye.

[Jake Brennan]

Hey guys, time to dust off your detective skills while unwinding in the Caribbean on Virgin Voyages. 2nd True Crime Voyages Back by popular demand, this five night adults only escape sets sail March 20, 2027 Grand Turk in the beach Club at Bimini. The difference between this year and last will be that I will be on the cruise this year along with Zeth, and he and I will be taping a live version of Disgrace Land along with podcast hosts from Exactly Right's Buried Bones Podcast of the Year award winners Wisecrack and other fan favorites. Get on this cruise with us guys and enjoy live podcast recordings, behind the scenes storytelling, exclusive meet and greets, and immersive true crime programming throughout this one of a kind voyage. Head over to www.virgin voy is.com truecrime

[Producer/Co-host]

to secure your spot. Amazon Health AI presents Painful Thoughts I I can't stop scratching my downtown. Yeah, but I'm not itching to go downtown and tell a receptionist I'm here to talk about my downtown. Some things you'd rather type than say out loud. There's no question too embarrassing for Amazon Health AI. Chat your symptoms and get virtual care 24. 7 Healthcare just got less painful. Disgraceland is a production of Double Elvis. This is a story about the band Talking Heads, but it's also the story about a singer and a serial killer. It's a wild story. A story that involves six murders, unsuspecting young people snuck up on in the darkness and shot in cold blood by a psycho. And it's a story about a singer trying to channel that detached psychotic feeling into song. A story about punk rock, the New Wave, the New York Yankees, the Mets, a garbage strike, and a blackout that brought terror and violence. All that aside, this is also a story about great music. Unlike that music I played for you at the top of the show, that wasn't great music. That was a preset loop from my melotron called Fears of a clown. MK2, I played you that loop because I can't afford the rights to Kiss and say Goodbye by the Manhattans. And why would I play you that particular slice of backseat dark, end of the street cheese? Could I afford it? Because that was the number one song in America on July 29, 1976. And that was the day that David Berkowitz kicked off a murderous rampage that terrorized New Yorkers for over a year. A year during which Talking Heads recorded their landmark first album and their signature song, Psycho Killer. On this episode, a singer, a serial killer. The Son of Sam and Talking Heads. I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgrace. Snare drum, hi hat. Bass line. It was a groove so loud and so low that you didn't even hear it. You just felt it there in your chest. It's the kind of groove that animates bodies. Those kinds of records, they get the crowd on the dance floor and then they keep them there. These were the kinds of records that Tony Amato spawned at the Peach Tree. Right now at 10:30pm Tony was keeping the Tempo at a moderate 95 beats per minute. By 1am he'd work it all the way up to 140 bpm as thousands of kids in their late teens and early 20s boogied down. Then Tony gradually relaxed the pace and cooled them all out. By closing time, it wasn't Studio 54, but in 1976 in the suburb of New Rochelle, New York. The Peach Tree was as close as it got to that midtown feel. Besides, New York City was a cesspool. It was dangerous and it was dirty. The suburbs were safer. This gig was easier. And based on the pair of brunettes that just walked by, the Peach Tree was plenty good enough for Tony. Just then, a young guy in a wrinkled button down shirt shuffled into the DJ booth holding a glass of water for Tony. Normally, the DJ booth was Tony's sacred space. No guests and no requests. But he felt sorry for this quiet young guy with the intense black eyes and the wild hair. He always came to the club alone and he never danced. He just hung at the edge of the DJ booth and watched Tony work. Eventually, Tony took pity on him and showed him the turntables and mixing boards. Tonight the guy handed Tony the glass of water and stared over his shoulder at the turntables. Tony tried to fill the awkward silence. He asked the guy if he liked disco. Nah, the guy said. He preferred Philly soul. Tony changed his strategy. Do you like girls? And the guy's eyes flashed with anger. He just stared at his shoes. Tony felt that it was clear that this guy wasn't a ladies man, but Jesus, he was just trying to make conversation. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air for another minute, and finally the guy muttered goodbye and quickly turned and walked out of the booth. And as he turned the corner, Tony called out after him, hey, David, catch you later. Meanwhile, 20 miles south, another awkward young man clung to a door frame in a tiny, damp room. A putrid mix of smells filled his nostrils. Piss, cockroach spray, Chanel number five. A combination so thick it enveloped him. All the same, he couldn't leave. He knew what was waiting just on the other side of the door. He could hear the huge dog panting in the summer heat, nudging at the door with its nose scraping its claws across the wooden floor. He knew the dog wouldn't let up now that it had his attention, and soon he would have to do its bidding. Finally, the young man pushed the door open and the black dog trotted forward and stopped right in front of him. It looked up with those sad eyes, eyes that were almost human. For a moment it seemed like the mutt was gonna speak. It paused, it circled, and then took a shit right there on the wooden floor. The dog forced its muzzle into his hands, leaving David Byrne with no choice but to scratch the ears of the big Saluki hound until it turned and ran back to a man standing at the bar. That man was Hilly Crystal. He ran cbgb, this tiny dive on the Bowery, and his dog, Jonathan, was the club's unofficial mascot. By July 1976, not much remained of Hilly's original vision of what was once called country, bluegrass and blues. Hence, cbgb. Instead, the club was the epicenter of a new wave of music powered by bands including Television, Blondie, the Ramones, and tonight's headliner, Talking Heads. David Byrne and his bandmates, bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris France, hardly looked like a band at the center of the emerging punk scene, where the Ramones rocked black leather and shades, Talking Heads wore polo shirts with little alligators on them. Clean cut, nerdy almost. They were, as rock critic Lester Bangs later put it, so uncool that they became cool. Tonight, however, they were well on their way to becoming cool. Only a year after their first gig as Talking Heads, they were gearing up for their second sold out show of the night. As the line grew outside the club, David Byrne felt tense, nervous. He couldn't relax. And the pressure was on. In addition to the huge crowd outside, Sire Records founder Seymour Stein was inside the building. He had been scouting the band for months. He saw one of their first shows a year prior, and now he was ready to check on the band's progress. The doors opened and the crowd rushed in, and when the band kicked off, Seymour Stein was pressed up against the front of the stage. He watched David Byrne twitch and convulse like a man possessed. His singing voice was just as jittery, swinging wildly up and down in pitch, but there was something oddly compelling about it. He was intense. He was passionate. In the right hands, he could be a star. Which is exactly why Seymour wanted the band for Sire Records. The first song ended and the crowd roared. David waited a moment before stepping to the microphone to announce their next one. The name of this band is Talking Heads. The next song is called Psycho Killer. While Talking Heads finished their late set back in New Relle, Tony Amato watched that pair of brunettes walk out of the Peach Tree. Too bad. Tony recognized one of them. What was her name? Debbie? Diane? No, Donna. That was it. He was hoping she might stick around to chat, but unfortunately that wasn't in the cards tonight. Donna and her friend Jody slipped out of the club and into the balmy night air. They hopped into Jody's Oldsmobile and headed south to the Bronx, to Pelham Bay, where Donna lived with her parents. Jody double parked in front of the house. The girls didn't notice the guy who was following them. He pulled his yellow Ford Galaxy to the curve half a block away, replaying the scene from the disco in his mind. He let out a hard, angry laugh. Of course he liked girls, but girls hardly noticed him, just like everyone else, and when they did, it was just to pity him. Even that DJ back at the Peach Tree. He was so patronizing, none of them truly saw him, not really. He was gonna fix that starting tonight. Soon a whole city would notice him. He pulled a revolver from his pocket and massaged it in his hands. Somewhere a dog was barking. He tried to block it from his mind and focus on what he was here to do, make them notice. He opened the door of his forward galaxy and stepped out into the night. The Oldsmobile idled just up ahead, a few feet away now. He crept up on the passenger side. Suddenly the passenger door swung open. It was Donna. She saw him there, waiting for her, his heart pounding, that snub nosed piece in his hand shimmering under the moonlight. She screamed, who the hell do you. The flash from the revolver was blinding. The shots cut through the night air like thunder. Donna fell to the ground. He aimed at Jody in the driver's seat. She looked like she was about to puke. He fired three more shots. The first one tore through her leg. She screamed in pain as blood spilled out into the driver's seat. And then he turned and ran. Doma's parents bolted out of the house. They rushed down to the car, but it was too late. At just 18 years old, their daughter's life was over. For the rest of New York City, the nightmare was just beginning.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Advertiser/Promoter]

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[Narrator/Host]

It's Alice's first case on the job and she's already bitten off more than she can chew.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

While Alice believes justice is achieved through law enforcement, Catherine has lost all faith in the legal system.

[Narrator/Host]

She's taken it upon herself to terrorize the rich and powerful men of New York in her pursuit of vengeance.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

As Alice and Catherine's twisted game of cat and mouse unfolds, the lines between good and evil and right and wrong begin to blur.

[Narrator/Host]

With shocking crimes, tangled relationships, and secrets that change everything, Alice discovers there's a thin line between hunter and prey.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Watch the Hulu Original series Furious, now

[Narrator/Host]

streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers terms apply.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Goodbye.

[Jake Brennan]

All right guys, I got something really cool for y'.

[Ashley]

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[Producer/Co-host]

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[Jake Brennan]

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[Ashley]

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California Resident Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance law license and MLS number 1353190 Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms and conditions apply. April 1977 Manhattan Sun Dragon Studios Something was bothering David Byrne. The music coming out of the control room speakers was not good. Not good at all. David's bandmates Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and their latest edition, multi instrumentalist Jerry Harrison, formerly of the Modern Lovers. They all agreed. Listening to this first playback of their song Psycho Killer, they realized that something was off. The cold, detached Persona that David created so easily on stage at CBGB was no match for the cold, detached atmosphere of the recording studio's isolated vocal booth. On tape, David's voice sounded timid, weak, uninspired. He hated it. The track should have been better than this. It was the band's oldest song, one they wrote in 1974 while they were all still art students at Rhode Island School of Design. David came up with the concept after listening to Alice Cooper's shock rock masterpiece Billion Dollar Babies on repeat. Back then, he imagined it as a creepy rock ballad, but Chris added a funky and propulsive beat that took the song in a totally different direction. Tina, who was dating Chris, listened as the guys tried to come up with a bridge. She offered to write something in French, seeing as she was fluent, and soon the song was done. Tina grew up taking music lessons, but at the time, she hadn't even picked up a bass yet. Even now, in 1977, she had only been playing for a year and a half. That was another thing bothering David. After finally signing with Sire Records in November, Talking Head's debut album was going to make or break. If it succeeded, it could launch him into a long career in music. If it flopped, he might not get another shot. Was it really wise to trust their sound to such an inexperienced player? Maybe Tina was the problem. Or maybe the problem was Tony Bongiovi. Yes, that's first cousin to Mr. Living on a Prayer. Jon Bon Jovi, who in 1977 was already a big time producer. Jimi Hendrix, Gloria Gaynor, and most importantly, Tony Bongiovi produced two dynamic, soaring albums for the Ramones. Seymour Stein thought that Tony Bongiovi would be a perfect fit for the Talking Head's debut. From the start, however, it was not a perfect fit. It was a bad fit. Tony didn't understand the band's sound. He was dismissive about Tina's playing, he hated David's singing, and he spent most of his time bragging about his new private jet. He read airplane magazines while the band recorded. And he left sessions to oversee the creation of the power station studio he was building in Hell's Kitchen. When he did pay attention, his attempts to drop knowledge often backfired. Like right now. The studio was silent as the playback ended. Everyone in the room knew that the vocals were all wrong. Tony casually put down the Airplane magazine and he took off his shades and walked out of the room. When he returned from the studio's small kitchen, he was holding an 8 inch long butcher knife. He walked up to David and placed the knife in his hand. Look, Tony said. You're a psycho killer, right? It's time to get into character. It couldn't be more clear that Tony didn't understand the song at all. He wanted David to scream soulfully like Al Green, instead of delivering a cold monotone like Lou Reed. He wanted a novelty song. The song wasn't a joke. This was David's life. If they didn't get it right this go round, there would not be another. David looked down at the knife in his hand and the anger boiled up inside of him. He felt like a dog, an animal. He wanted to lunge at Tony, gouge the producer's eyes out, to plunge the knife into his fucking chest. Do it. The voice inside him screamed. Do it. No, he said to himself as much as he said to Tony. I don't think we're gonna do that. Then he handed back the knife and stormed out of the room. While David Byrne was trying to channel a psycho killer in Manhattan, residents of Queens and the Bronx were becoming aware of a psycho killer prowling their neighborhood for real. The shooting in the Bronx in July 1976 that killed 18 year old Donna Lauria and wounded her 19 year old friend Jodi Valenti was reported with a meager two paragraph mention in the Long Island Press. Similar attacks in October and November garnered a few more articles, but nothing like the headlines that David Berkowitz expected. In a city with over 1500 homicides a year, it was hard to break through. But David Berkowitz did break through, specifically at about 7:30pm on March 8, 1977, when he approached a 19 year old Columbia student walking home in Queens. The books that Virginia Vaskarin carried couldn't stop the slug from David Berkowitz's gun. She held the books up to try and shield the inevitable, but it was no use. David shot her point blank in the mouth. Virginia's body collapsed in a heap on the sidewalk. David Berkowitz pulled a cap down over his face and took off running. He left behind the $35 in Virginia's purse. This was the murder that compelled New York City Mayor Abe Beam to hold a press conference in which he alerted the public that the same weapon, a.44 Bulldog revolver, have been used in at least two of the recent shootings. A month later, opening day at Yankee Stadium, the tabloid headlines weren't talking about the early struggles of new right fielder Reggie Jackson. Instead, the New York Post and their chief rival, the New York Daily News, were focused on yet another brutal killing. David Berkowitz was crouching in the shadows, watching a couple as they kissed in a parked car. He felt for the letter in his jacket pocket, the one he'd written earlier that day. It was addressed to NYPD Sergeant Joseph Borelli, who was leading the investigation into the killings. Killings in which David Berkowitz was the sole perpetrator as well as the sole person to know this fact. He continued to watch the couple make out in their car like a man watching a dirty movie alone in a darkened theater. And then he pulled that big.44 caliber handgun from a bag. It gave him purpose. The interior light in the car went out and the couple's heads were silhouetted by the residual glow of a nearby street light. They were so unaware, so happy, they should have been terrified. David made his approach, slowed his New York power walk to a crawl. He could Hear them now, Their moans, ecstasy, heavy petting. The sounds gave him confidence. No wild shots tonight, no misses. He dropped to his knee, braced his arm and aimed. This happy couple would feel his pain. He fired four bullets. Each one found its target. His victims slumped in the their seats, dead or nearly so. He calmly pulled the letter from his pocket and dropped it in the car before turning to leave. The citizens of New York City didn't fear him. Not yet. They called him a killer, but they had no idea that he was so much more. He was the son of evil. He was the son of the devil. He was the Son of Sam. Which is exactly what the letter said. The cops tried to keep the letter a secret from the press, but the Daily News managed to bribe someone. And the very next day, the paper ran the full text of the letter, along with a massive, bold face headline that read, Killer to Cops. I'll do it again. That headline caught the eye of many New Yorkers, including David Byrne, who spotted the paper as he stepped out of Sun Dragon Studios. As he read the article, he was struck by the letter's cold, detached tone. These weren't the words of a lunatic waving a knife around in public. They were the words of a man who blended in, who wouldn't be noticed until he struck. When David Byrne returned to the studio, he ran into engineer Ed Stasia. He confessed to Ed that he was beyond uncomfortable singing in front of Tony. Ed suggested they wait for the producer to clear out for the day and then finish the vocals when he wasn't around. Which is exactly what they did. They pieced together Psycho Killer behind their producer's back. While Tony talked shit about Tina's playing, Ed the engineer, reassured David and the rest of the band that her bass line absolutely made the song and that she was impossible to replace. Eventually, David Byrne found ways to relax. To bring the excitement of the band's live performances to the cold, isolated vocal booth. Psycho Killer was taking shape. Eight or nine other songs were close behind. But now the band was going to have to push pause on the recording. In three days, they were boarding a plane to England. The band was going on tour with the Ramones. So while David Byrne worked on building a buzz for his band's debut album abroad, David Berkowitz worked on a project that would land him more headlines back home. His letter to the Cops was a success. It massively increased the news coverage of his killings. And now the Son of Sam was working feverishly on a follow up. Something bigger, longer, more ornate. He took his time writing it he worked carefully on the calligraphy, the layout. It was a killer press release. Or should I say a press release for a killer. Which is why Berkowitz sent it to a reporter, Jimmy Breslin, the lead columnist for the New York Daily News. And like any good press release, it promoted an event, another killing to come in July on the one year anniversary of the Son of Sam's first shooting. We'll be right back after this. Word, word, word.

[Narrator/Host]

The Hulu original series Furious is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney. From Liz Meriwether, the Emmy nominated executive producer of Dying for Sex and the Dropout, comes a gripping psychological thriller starring Emmy Rossum.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Furious follows Alice Black, a rookie FBI agent on the hunt for Katherine and a mysterious and calculating female serial killer.

[Narrator/Host]

It's Alice's first case on the job and she's already bitten off more than she can chew.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

While Alice believes justice is achieved through law enforcement, Catherine has lost all faith in the legal system.

[Narrator/Host]

She's taken it upon herself to terrorize the rich and powerful men of New York in her pursuit of vengeance.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

As Alice and Catherine's twisted game of cat and mouse unfolds, the lines between good and evil and right and wrong begin to blur.

[Narrator/Host]

With shocking crimes, tangled relationships, and secrets that change everything, Alice discovers there's a thin line between hunter and prey.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Watch the Hulu original series Furious, now

[Narrator/Host]

streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers terms apply.

[Advertiser/Promoter]

Goodbye. Goodbye.

[Jake Brennan]

All right, guys, I got something really cool for y'.

[Producer/Co-host]

All. Come cruise the Caribbean with yours truly

[Jake Brennan]

and some other great podcasters as part of the Virgin Voyages True Crime Voyage. Yes, we are going on a cruise together. Discos, you, me, Zeth, and a whole ship full of true crime fans. Now, Zeth and I are gonna be taping a live version of Disgraceland, one of our after party episodes. And there's gonna be some podcasters doing the same thing. The folks from Wisecrack. You guys know about wisecrack 2026 is podcast of the year. Ambi award winners and Iheart award winner for best true crime podcast. Also, the folks from Exactly Right's Buried Bones will be on board doing their thing as well. So if you want a live true crime Disgraceland experience and a party to go along with it, Live podcast recordings, behind the scenes storytelling, exclusive meet and greets, and immersive programming on a one of a kind voyage, well, then you're going to make your plans right now for the Virgin Voyages True crime voyage happening March 20, 2027. March 20, 2027 that's right. We are departing from Miami on that day and sailing to Grand Turk and the Beach Club in Bimini. Come hang with me Seth, your fellow Discos and True Crime fans along with the hosts from Buried Bones and Wisecrack this coming March, March 20, 2027. Head over to www.virginvoyages.com truecrime to secure your spot.

[Ashley]

This is Ashley from the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous Podcast Ben. I've been reflecting a lot lately on how many big life moments our listeners have experienced with us. Yeah, it's pretty wild. They've watched us go from dating shows to engagements, weddings, babies, buying homes. Every stage comes with new decisions. The milestones are the fun part, but the planning is where things get real. That's why Klarna stands out. Klarna gives people smarter tools to help manage everyday money with flexible ways to pay cash back that builds automatically everything in one place and support that makes everyday decisions feel less overwhelming. Since life moves so fast, the right

[Producer/Co-host]

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[Ashley]

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California Resident Loans made or arranged pursuant to a California Finance law license and MLS number 1353190 Klarna balance account required to be eligible for cashback points. Limitations, terms and conditions apply. July 1977 New York's brutal heat wave seemed to be never ending. Ditto for the rotting garbage piled in the streets, the result of a sanitation worker strike. If that didn't put you on edge, then knowing that psycho Son of Sam was still out there did. Some days it seemed like the only bright spot in the city was the New York Yankees, who were starting to rise to the top of the American League east standings just a few days before the All Star break. Yankee Stadium was dark tonight, though, with the Bronx Bombers on the road. But across town in Queens, Shea Stadium was lit up with the Mets and the Chicago Cubs heading into the bottom of the sixth inning, you could almost see the stadium lights from the roof of the Long Island City loft that David Byrne shared with Tina Weymouth and Chris France. David wasn't looking toward Shea Stadium, though. He was looking out across the east river at the buildings of Manhattan. The next day, in one of those buildings, he and his bandmates would head to Sundragon and put the final touches on their debut album. Despite the heat, everyone was in a celebratory mood. Hamburgers and chicken sizzled on a barbecue grill, glasses clinked, friends downed cold beer and White Wine as the group toasted the completion of their record. David Byrne, however, stood alone. His stomach was in knots and the album was nearly done. And that thought was pure agony. What if the record record flopped? What if radio programmers refused to play it because they thought it was punk and not new wave, as Seymour Stein was insisting? What if they never got to make another record? Suddenly, David watched from the roof as an entire city block went dark, like someone had flipped off a giant power switch. Then another, and another. Everyone at the party was pointing across the river as midtown and downtown also went dark. They watched as the entire city was plunged into darkness. New York finally snapped. The heat, the trash, the fear, and now no electricity. Enough was enough. From Brooklyn to the Bronx, people flooded the streets to vent their frustration. They lit fires, smashed store windows. It was absolute pandemonium. The cops were already stretched to the breaking point with the Son of Sam manhunt as the rioting spread. They were outnumbered and exhausted. They struggled to restore order as the sun came up. The next morning, thick smoke filled the air throughout Queens as police and looters engaged in a street battle. Talking Heads were huddled around a small television, watching in horror as all this unfolded, knowing that there was a very real possibility that their recording studio could be one of those buildings being looted. 25 hours passed, 25 long hours. Finally, the power came back. On the phone at the band's loft range. It was Ed's Stasium at the studio, and everything, thankfully, was fine. The tapes were safe. As David Byrne and Talking Heads completed the final mix of their debut album, David Berkowitz was contemplating his own final plan. As he clung to a door frame in a tiny, dank bathroom outside, he could hear the dog pacing back and forth. He was terrified. Now that it had his attention, he knew that he would have to do its bidding. From the window of his tiny apartment in Yonkers, he looked outside. In the yard below, he could see the big black dog staring at him. Its eyes were almost human. It was barking. It was snarling. It looked like it was about to start screaming at him. You fucking loser. You pathetic piece of shit. The world hates you. Why don't you just die, you worm. Do it. Do it now. Sam is hungry. Sam wants to hunt. Get out there and kill, kill, kill. David covered his ears, but he couldn't drown it out. He grabbed a small rifle from the couch and threw open the window. He fired wildly at the dog below as it ran whimpering. Back home. August 1977. Despite a massive police manhunt, David Berkowitz had successfully killed again a year almost to the day from his first shooting. No one is safe from Son of Sam, declared the New York Post. Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin pleaded with the killer to surrender in an issue of the paper that sold over a million copies. Nightclubs were empty. Lovers lanes were deserted. David Berkowitz had achieved the type of fame a guy like David Byrne could only dream of. With his immortality assured, David Berkowitz was now planning to go out with a bang head to a nightclub just like the Peach Tree in New Rochelle and lay waste to the entire crowd. All the party girls in leisure suit wearing guys, macho fuckos. All those people who pushed him around, who ignored him, who made fun of him. He was going to kill them all. And if the cops didn't shoot him first, then he would end it himself, right there in the nightclub, blood all over the dance floor. He already had one gun in his yellow Ford Galaxy. Now he loaded his familiar.44 caliber bulldog with fresh bullets and placed it in a brown paper bag. He was ready to hunt. It was just before 10pm he walked down the steps from his apartment. Outside, there was no one. It was pitch black, and with the help of a dim street light at the end of the block, he could make out his car. He walked quickly toward the vehicle. He pulled out his key and slid it into the lock on the driver's side. Then he heard footsteps approaching quickly from behind. He turned around to see an NYPD detective running toward him, gun drawn. Two more cops were approaching from the other side. He dropped the brown paper bag to the ground and stuck his hands in the air. Then he slumped his shoulders and looked at the ground. Well, you got me. The cop asked him. Who in the hell did he have, exactly? I'm Sam, he said. David Berkowitz. The next morning, August 11, 1977, the headline of the New York Post read caught. It sold 1.2 million copies, almost twice the paper's normal circulation. The New York Daily News responded with their own breathless coverage of the arrest and arraignment. The papers could only hope for a lengthy trial. But instead, David Berkowitz confessed the next day. Although it would be months before he was finally sentenced, for New Yorkers, the long and terrifying summer of the psycho killer was finally over. A parking ticket. That's all it took. After a reign of terror that lasted more than a year, left six people dead and another seven seriously wounded, it was a parking ticket that finally did David Berkowitz in In the early morning of July 31, 1977, just moments before he shot and killed Stacy Moskowitz and wounded Robert Violente as they sat in a car in Brooklyn, David Berkowitz's own car was ticketed for parking too close to a fire hydrant. An eyewitness later told police she saw a young man snatch a ticket off his windshield and glare at her just moments before she heard shots ring out. Eventually, that ticket led police to the yellow Ford Galaxy owned by David Berkowitz. And when they found it parked outside his apartment in Yonkers, it had a gun laying in the backseat and another letter to police detailing his grim final plan. But just because David Berkowitz was finally jailed didn't mean the press coverage cooled off. If anything, it intensified. Papers jockeyed for access, seeking explanations for how this could have happened. The New York Daily News blamed the LSD that David Berkowitz took as a soldier in Korea. Even the gray lady of the local press, the New York Times, reported breathlessly on theories that David Berkowitz may have acted together with the Sons of Sam Carr. The literal Sons of Carr was the neighbor who owned the black lab that David Berkowitz claimed had ordered him to kill. Stories like that only increased after both brothers died violent deaths in the two years following Berkowitz's arrest. On Friday, September 16, the New York Mets finally completed the game against the Chicago Cubs that had been postponed by the blackout. That same day, Talking Head's debut album, also delayed by the blackout, was finally released. Psycho Killer was the first single. Seymour Stein's new wave marketing strategy worked perfectly for a band of clean cuts art school students. They didn't look like punks, they didn't sound like punks. They were the vanguard of an entirely new sound. And by the following spring, David Berkowitz was found legally sane and sentenced to 25 years to life, thanks in no small part to the publicity around the case. Around that same time, the Talking Head single Psycho Killer snuck onto the Billboard Hot 100 for a five week run, peaking at number 92. It was a hit, just barely, but it was enough of a hit to guarantee the band a second album. On Sire, they made the most of it. Learning from previous experience, they lined up Brian Eno, formerly of the band Roxy Music and at the time one of David Bowie's musical collaborators, to produce their next record. Finally working with someone who is on their wavelengths, the band ditched the standard studio practices of recording in isolation. Instead, they played together in the same room, allowing them to harness the energy of their set in the recording studio, Brian Eno rode the rhythm section of Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz as he pushed the band into a funkier, more stylistically diverse sound. Their second album, More songs about buildings and and Food, went all the way up to number 29, largely powered by their cold, detached and incredibly funky cover of Al Green's Take Me to the River. The band worked with Brian Eno for three albums in total, including one of their many masterpieces, Remain in Light. Over the years, David Byrne and Brian Eno continued to collaborate on more award winning albums, albums and projects, including My Life in the Bush of Ghosts and 2018's American Utopia, which charted higher than any Talking Heads album ever did. The power of art is an incredible thing. It took an awkward college dropout and gave him an outlet, a way to communicate, a way to connect, to see and to be seen. And it made him a star. Without art, who knows where David Byrne would have ended up? David Berkowitz, on the other hand, found no such connection, no outlet for his rage and for his pain. And because of that, he inflicted that rage and that pain on the world around him. It's enough to make you wonder if he had found his place. Could this have been stopped? Could those lives have been saved? Could it all have turned out differently with another chance? Could David Berkowitz have turned out like David Byrne? Or was David Berkowitz simply destined for evil, for violence, for disgrace? I'm Jake Brennan and this is Disgrace.

[Jake Brennan]

Disgraceland was created by yours truly and

[Producer/Co-host]

is produced in partnership with Double Elvis. Credits for this episode can be found on the show notes [e-mail] if you're

[Jake Brennan]

listening, as a Disgraceland All Access member,

[Producer/Co-host]

thank you for supporting the show. We really appreciate it. And if not, you can become a member right now by going to Disgracelandpod.com membership members can listen to every episode of Disgraceland Ad Free. Plus you'll get one brand new exclusive episode every month, weekly unscripted bonus episode's

[Jake Brennan]

special audio collections and early access to merchandise and events.

[Producer/Co-host]

Visit disgracelandpod.com membership for details, rate and

[Jake Brennan]

review the show and follow us on

[Producer/Co-host]

Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook Disgracelandpod and on [e-mail] Disgracelandpod Rocka Rola. He's a bad, Bad man.

[Jake Brennan]

Hey guys, time to dust off your detective skills while unwinding in the Caribbean on Virgin Voyages. 2nd True Crime Voyages Back by popular demand, this five night adults only escape sets sail March 20, 2027 to Grand Turk in the Beach Club at Bimini. The difference between this year and last will be that I will be on the cruise this year along with Zethro and he and I will be taping a live version of Disgraceland along with podcast hosts from Exactly Right's Buried Bones Podcast of the Year award winners Wisecrack and other fan favorites. Get on this cruise with us guys and enjoy live podcast recordings, behind the scenes storytelling, exclusive meet and greets and immersive true crime programming throughout this one of a kind voyage. Head over to www.virginvoyages.com truecrime to secure your spot.

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