Intro Rewind: Talking Heads (Extended)

Summary

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The Late Show Pod Show with Stephen Colbert

Episode Title: Intro Rewind: Talking Heads (Extended)
Released: August 25, 2025
Main Theme:
Stephen Colbert sits down with all four members of Talking Heads—David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison—to celebrate the 40th anniversary re-release of the legendary concert film Stop Making Sense. This extended, never-before-heard interview covers the band’s origins, early days, life on the road, the making and impact of Stop Making Sense, and their complex band dynamics.

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Episode Overview

This special episode reunites Colbert and Becca, the show's producer, with the full Talking Heads lineup. The conversation blends heartfelt fandom, band history, behind-the-scenes stories, and thoughtful reflection on Stop Making Sense’s enduring legacy. The chemistry is playful, candid, and insightful—perfect for both die-hard fans and newcomers.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Stephen Colbert’s Talking Heads Story

• Colbert’s Fandom:
  • Shares personal tales of formative years spent with Talking Heads' music, admitting he skipped their 1983 UVA concert for a Shakespeare paper—a decision he humorously and regretfully re-examines.
  • Quote:
    “I watched that film and I went, oh, you dummy. You dummy. You could have written that paper anytime.” — Stephen Colbert (05:31)
• Becca’s Connection:
  • Joins with her own family’s lore, revealing her mother failed a school test to see the band, providing a balance to Colbert's mature (if regretful) choice.
  • “I think my mom actually has the opposite story where she...failed a test because she wanted to go to a...Talking Heads show.” — Becca (05:37)

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2. The Immediate Power of Talking Heads’ Music

• Cultural Impact:
  • Colbert describes how songs like “Burning Down The House” would become showstoppers at college parties.
  • “When the song came on, the party just stopped. And something else happened.” — Stephen Colbert (02:27)

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3. Early Band Days & Origins (10:22–16:13)

• Humble Beginnings:
  • The members reminisce about the unglamorous start: cramped station wagons, empty pizza parlors, and even odd gig-mates like a drunken fire eater.
  • “We were still playing to, like, 50 people, maybe 100...in the station wagon. We would play shopping malls...pizza parlors.” — Chris Frantz (11:28)
• Meet-Cute Band Formation:
  • Chris Frantz discusses forming a band at RISD “to entertain our friends,” leading to the early lineup and covers of The Who, Miracles, Paul Revere & The Raiders.
  • Tina Weymouth was not initially part of the band, sitting “in another corner of the room because it was so loud.”
  • Jerry Harrison joined after The Modern Lovers broke up, training as an architect before the band won him over.
  • Tina joined as bassist because, “they really needed a bass player and nobody would join them.” (15:35)
  • “I just thought, oh, God, these guys, they're so amazing and they're so creative. And we had a chemistry.” — Tina Weymouth (15:47)

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4. Life on the Road, CBGB's, and Touring with the Ramones (17:50–22:17)

• CBGB’s Scene:
  • Chris recalls the daunting early days at the club—seeing the Ramones, thinking they were a Spanish band, witnessing onstage arguments (“like a performance art act”), and immersing themselves in a community with Patti Smith, Television, and others.
• Ramones Tour & Euro Adventures:
  • Tina reflects on being the only woman touring with the Ramones, sharing tuners, and the egalitarian way European fans embraced musical variety.
  • “We did other tours with Dire Straits, we did other tours with XTC. I mean, it all worked together.” — Tina Weymouth (20:37)
  • Legendary moment: Fans at a Flanders show “pogoing so hard,” some collapsed through the floor and climbed right back to rejoin the crowd.
  • “We just saw this dimple appear in the middle of the crowd and we thought, oh, what?...And then those kids were falling through the floor into the basement, coming back out...” — Tina Weymouth (22:02)

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5. Stop Making Sense 40th Anniversary (22:54–27:57)

• Re-release Origins:
  • Rights reverted to the band after 40 years. A24 jumped at the chance to remaster, not just re-stream the movie. (23:13)
• Restoration Story:
  • Jerry Harrison details hunting down the original negatives in a Kansas warehouse and updating the sound with modern technology and longtime collaborators.
  • “It was really good that we started early, and I worked with a wonderful mixer who worked on...the original album.” — Jerry Harrison (23:56)
• Seeing Themselves Now:
  • Watching their young selves in IMAX, Chris beams: “My wife is in it, and what a babe...When I look at it, I just think, Chris, you did the right thing.” — Chris Frantz (25:18)
• Band Chemistry on Stage:
  • Jerry describes assembling the legendary extended band, mixing friends, collaborators, and funk greats like Bernie Worrell, crediting the Stop Making Sense era as uniquely creative.
  • “I came back to the studio and went, we have the best band in the world. I can't believe this.” — Jerry Harrison (26:17)

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6. Colbert’s Fan Pilgrimage (27:57–29:00)

• Tells of seeking out the famous “Burning Down the House” exterior from the video while at the Jersey shore: “We just drove and sat in front of the house and looked at...It was just like a center hall colonial house. We were like, here we are.”

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7. Addressing Band Tensions & Reunion Rumors (29:30–31:17)

• Colbert’s Delicate Question:
  • Asks if old frictions remain:
  • “Over the last couple of decades, there’s been some friction in the band...is that all water under the bridge or do you still need to wear galoshes around each other?”
• Chris Frantz’ Response:
  • “Any band that's been together a long time has had twists and turns and ups and downs...but I think we love each other and we've made such great music together. And this movie...is so good that we all agreed we got to get together and protect our legacy.”
• Colbert’s Playful Nudge for a Reunion:
  • “You gotta admit, it would be legendary right now if you got up there and played a song.”
  • To which Tina quips: “We’ll be still waiting.” (31:15)

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8. Final Reflections: What Does “Stop Making Sense” Mean? (31:57–32:45)

• David Byrne:
  • “It was more about like maybe talking to myself a little bit saying, don't be so rational all the time. Maybe sometimes trust your instinct, trust your feelings, trust those kinds of things, and see what happens.” (32:29)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I mean, the Last Waltz is good. But this is...extraordinary.” — Stephen Colbert on Stop Making Sense (06:09)
• “We were really good at what they call maintaining. So nobody knew.” — Chris Frantz, on the band's “rock and roll lifestyle,” (16:37)
• “Our sound man said, that's because he's full of drugs.” — Chris Frantz, on his always-smiling demeanor, (16:51)
• “To us, they [the Ramones] were like a performance art act.” — Chris Frantz, on witnessing punk’s chaos at CBGB’s (19:33)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Colbert’s Regretful Concert Tale: 02:27–05:28
• Starting Out – Band Formation & Early Gigs: 11:28–15:35
• CBGB’s & Ramones Era: 17:50–22:17
• Discussing Stop Making Sense Restoration: 22:54–25:26
• Band Tensions & Reunion Hopes: 29:30–31:17
• Meaning of “Stop Making Sense”: 31:57–32:45

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Tone & Style

The atmosphere is alternately nostalgic, funny, and warm, with Colbert’s gleeful fandom giving the band space for both myth-busting and memory-sharing. The Talking Heads are witty, candid, and quick to poke fun at themselves and each other, while Colbert’s questions and stories balance deep admiration with playful banter.

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Summary

This extended cut offers a comprehensive, heartfelt, and often hilarious exploration of Talking Heads’ four-decade journey from art-school underdogs to icons, culminating in arguably the greatest concert film of all time. From station wagon tours and CBGB gigs to the complexities of creative collaboration, and finally, a contemplative answer to what it means to stop making sense, this episode is a prized time-capsule for music history fans and Late Show listeners alike.

Transcript

[Stephen Colbert]

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[Becca (Producer)]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Hey, I'm Stephen Colbert and I'm here with Becca and my producer for the podcast Becca. What do we got?

[Becca (Producer)]

Today we have an extended interview with one of my favorite bands that came on the show last fall.

[Stephen Colbert]

The band. Oh, was it Talking Heads?

[Becca (Producer)]

It was, yes. Wow.

[Stephen Colbert]

The name of this band is Talking Heads.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yes. And you're a fan too. I know.

[Stephen Colbert]

An enormous fan. Well, let's see, I'm old enough that I mean talking heads, 77 with psycho killer. I believe that's off of there. I'm 13 for that. So it's a little out there for a 13 year old, that album. But by the time I got to college I was fully invested and my sophomore year stopped making sense.

[Becca (Producer)]

Oh man.

[Stephen Colbert]

Came out.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you know, Burnin down the house was. There wasn't a party that did not involve burning down the house. And when the song came on, the party just stopped. And something else happened. Like it became a different event. Just while that song was going on, everybody stopped their conversations. Everybody just danced, everybody just sang along. I had an opportunity to go See talking heads at uva. I was at a small college called Hampton Sydney in Virginia. And I had tickets. It was me and Scott Weary and two other guys. I'm sorry, guys. I can't remember which two guys it was, but it was me and my friend Scott Weary, old friend of mine from Charleston. And we had tickets to go see them. And we'd heard this tour was extraordinary. And it was like, you know. And as I was leaving the campus, we had to go through this arch on the campus. Do I tell this story in the interview?

[Becca (Producer)]

I think you maybe do, but not this detailed. So I want to know more.

[Stephen Colbert]

I had said to Scott, like, I can't go. I just can't go. I really care about this Shakespeare class I'm taking. And I've got a paper due tomorrow comparing William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Christopher Marlowe's Tamerlane the Great about these sort of these dictatorial leaders whose life stories are affected by the occult and predictions of the occult. And that was the comparison I was doing between the two of them. And he said, hey, man, our life experience is, you know, dictate who we are. And you can write a paper and think about that anytime. You'll never go to this concert again. And I went, you know what? That's just seductive enough for me to give into. And so I got in the car, and as we were driving out of the campus to go to the concert, on the gate next to, you know, the entrance to the school, it said in Latin, and my Latin isn't as good as it used to be, but it's like, you know, it said, enter as boys, leave as men. That was what it said. And I said, stop the car. I said, I'm going to go write this paper. And they said, what do you do? I said, sell my ticket. Get me the money. This is the wrong thing for me to do. Because I thought, like, a boy would go to this concert. A man would go do his job. And so I walked back to my room and I wrote all night, and I got an A. And my teacher said, I'll help you get this published. He really liked it. And I never thought about it again again. I never got it published because it would require more work. I'm like, no, no, that's not the point. I'm not going to be. I'm not an English major. I'm not going to be an academician. But thank you very much. And so then later, I saw the concert film stopped making sense, and I realized I'd made The wrong choice.

[Becca (Producer)]

No, but I mean. But the beautiful. Yeah, yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, it was.

I watched that film and I went, oh, you dummy. You dummy. You could have written that paper anytime.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah, yeah. I think my mom actually has the opposite story where she. She like failed a test because she wanted to go to a. I think it was a talking head show. But. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

Wow.

[Becca (Producer)]

But, man. But the concert film. So that's what they're on to promote because they got it beautifully restored. Did you go? Did you see it?

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, gorgeous. Yes, gorgeous. Absolutely. I've watched it several times in the new re release.

[Becca (Producer)]

And you dance and showed it to my kids. Yeah, you showed to my kids while you're watching. So good.

[Stephen Colbert]

My kids turned to me and said, this is the greatest concert film ever made. I'm like, yeah, yeah, it's the greatest. I mean, the Last Waltz is good.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

But this is. This is extraordinary. And you just can't believe, you know, as my friend Kendall Roy says, it was just, you know, nothing but bangers.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah. No. My God. Beautiful. And they loved being on the show, which was so sweet. They're huge fans of the show.

[Stephen Colbert]

I mean, God, at one point I looked over and like. Cause Tina was sitting right. Tina Weymouth was sitting right next to me. And at one point I kind of had an out of body experience. Cause I just looked at her and she's like 18 inches away from me. And I thought, holy, holy.

That's Tina.

[Chris Frantz]

Waymo.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

And like, we're having like a.

We're having a good time with these four people.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah. And they. They ended up taping their own raps. They like wanted to rap out. They wanted, like.

[Stephen Colbert]

They did their own commercial breaks.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yeah, they. They. They requested to say, like, you know, David Byrne stands up and just goes, we'll be right back with the Talking Heads. It's so fun. They're so wacky. They're just having a great time. Yeah.

[Stephen Colbert]

With Talking Heads. Not the Talking Heads.

[Becca (Producer)]

Yes, yes. Sorry, sorry.

[Stephen Colbert]

The name of this band is Talking Head.

[Becca (Producer)]

Talking Heads. Yes.

[Jerry Harrison]

All right.

[Becca (Producer)]

This is Talking Heads on the Late Show POD show from last year. It's the extended cut that you didn't hear on tv. Thanks so much for listening.

[Stephen Colbert]

My guests tonight are Rock and Roll hall of Famers who are here to celebrate the 40th anniversary of perhaps the greatest concert film of all time. Stop making sense. Please welcome to the Late Show Talking Heads. David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Chris Franz, and Tina Weymouth.

Thank you, Chris. Thank you so much.

Try this way, try this way.

Hey, Jerry, thanks so much.

Hey, David.

[Becca (Producer)]

Nice to be here.

[Stephen Colbert]

Isn't that lovely? Well, listen, thank you all. Thank you all for being here. I'll just get straight to it. I don't even know how to be cool about this, because I want to ask you, first off, what it was like to hit as a band, because a lot of people work hard to find their sound, hoping that an audience is going to appreciate it. But you had this extraordinary explosion onto the scene in 1977, your first album, Talking Head. 77. What an incredible year to come out. The Clash. The Clash comes out that year. Elvis Costello, My Name Is True. Sex Pistols, Never Mind the bollocks. Here's the Sex Pistols, Meatloaf, Bat out of Hell, Cheap Chick, Cheap Trick, Foreigner. Foreigner. Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel and talking heads. 77. What was it like to fire onto the scene? And I'll just say one more thing, and I know you eventually will be allowed to talk, but I was in my sophomore year of college that summer before Sophomore year, Speaking In Tongues comes out that spring. Stop Making Sense comes out. There was no other band for that entire year for me or any of my friends. So I am absolutely levitating, talking to any of you right now. These people know this story. I had tickets to see. I had tickets to see you at UVA in the fall of 1983, in October. And I had a paper due the next day for my Shakespeare class, and I did the paper instead. Tina, how big of a mistake did I make?

[Tina Weymouth]

I think you did great, Stephen, because I think all the kids were really high that night, and it would have been impossible to write your paper afterwards.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, good. Okay, good. Have any of you ever had an opportunity to go to a concert and then you didn't, and you regret it for the rest of your life?

[Jerry Harrison]

Yes. Yes. A friend of mine, Steve Ferrone, was the drummer in Tom Petty's band, had tickets for me, and there was a lot of traffic, and I went, well, I'll just see him next time. And it was, I think, maybe his last show. So I feel that was. I feel like, oh, my God, how did I miss that?

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, tell me what that first year was like. When your album hits in 1977, did you feel that you had made an impression?

[Tina Weymouth]

We got gobbed a lot.

[Stephen Colbert]

What's gobbed mean?

[David Byrne]

Driving around in a station wagon, too.

[Chris Frantz]

My parents. Station wagon. A Ford Country Squire with the wood on the side. The fake wood, sure.

[Stephen Colbert]

So glamour.

[Chris Frantz]

But, you know, when our first album came out, we were so excited, and we were very Pleased by the critical reception we had, but we were still playing to, like, 50 people, maybe 100 people in most of the cities we went to in the station wagon. We would play shopping malls that were, like empty shopping malls. We would play pizza parlors. Remember the show in Pittsburgh?

[Jerry Harrison]

Yeah, the Pizza Antonino.

[David Byrne]

We played the pizza parlor, and the opening act was a fire eater. We did two sets, and so did he. But during our first set, he got drunk. We're just like, oh, no. Oh, no, this is not good.

[Chris Frantz]

Yeah.

[David Byrne]

I also remember we played a Beefsteak Charlie's in Yonkers. It's not there anymore.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh.

[Tina Weymouth]

The worst part about it were Jerry and I were dressed in the same outfits as the waiters.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, so you guys. So David and Chris and Tina, you guys are all students at Rhode Island School of Design, right? You're all risd. How does the band come together? I mean, everybody, I assume there has been, probably got a band. Like, they're art school students. Everybody's got a band. How did the three of you get together originally?

[Chris Frantz]

Well, surprisingly, there weren't a whole lot of bands at risd, which is why we formed one. I had this idea we should form a band to entertain our friends. And I met David, and he was into that idea, and some other friends joined in, and we were a cover band, and the sole purpose was to entertain our friends, you know?

[Stephen Colbert]

And how did. Where did that. When did it develop beyond that?

[David Byrne]

I started writing some songs for that band.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, who were you doing? What covers were you doing?

[Chris Frantz]

Well, we did a whole eclectic mix. We did Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. We did the early. Who, like, I can't explain. We did the Velvet Underground. We did Paul Revere and the Raiders.

[Stephen Colbert]

Are there recordings of those? You guys doing those covers?

[Chris Frantz]

I wish I heard that somebody has a recording that they made, but that person has not come forward.

[Tina Weymouth]

Stephen, I was not in that band.

[Stephen Colbert]

You were not?

[Tina Weymouth]

No. Everybody who wasn't in that band stood in another corner of the room because it was so loud. Really, it was just so painful.

[Stephen Colbert]

And you were an honest critic, and they appreciated that. Jerry, you were with the Modern Lovers. Yes. Was this. Was this. Was this like the. She's crack that part or the. Exactly.

[Jerry Harrison]

She crack Roadrunner.

[Stephen Colbert]

All right, so why. Why. Why did you want to be part of this?

[Jerry Harrison]

Well, the Modern Lovers had broken up, and I was sort of in this limbo. I was actually. And just entering architecture school, having said, well, I don't think I'm going to be in a rock band. And then I met the Talking Heads and they asked me to join. And they actually allowed me to finish the first semester because I said, my parents will kill me if I don't. If I can't go back. So, anyway, so I joined in January of 77. But we did a number of shows and they braved. I had this house that I had rebuilt in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and we rehearsed in kind of just after a blizzard in this freezing cabin to go down and play in at the Ratskeller in Boston and down at Lupo's in Providence.

[Stephen Colbert]

And Tina, when did you join? If you weren't originally in the band, when did that change?

[Tina Weymouth]

Well, they really needed a bass player and nobody would join them. They asked Debbie Harry to sing with them, and she said, I already have a band, but you can buy me a drink. So I just loved them. I just thought, oh, God, these guys, they're so amazing and they're so creative. And we had a chemistry. It was very special. And so I braved it, even though it wasn't the right thing to do, probably. But I thought, I'll just get them going, you know.

[Stephen Colbert]

You guys. Rock and roll band. Did you. Were you. For lack of better words, were you partiers? Was it that rock and roll lifestyle?

[Chris Frantz]

That would be. Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

The chair would like to recognize the gentleman from Talking Heads and ask him to elaborate on his answer.

[Chris Frantz]

Oh, I probably shouldn't elaborate any further, but the thing was, we were really good at what they call maintaining. So nobody knew.

[Stephen Colbert]

Or at least you didn't think anybody knew. That's the trick of maintaining.

[Chris Frantz]

Somebody said the drummer, he's always smiling. And our sound man said, that's because he's full of drugs. Unlike Joe over there, who is a fabulous.

[Stephen Colbert]

Clean as a whistle. There's a whistle. So, David, how did you feel about the term art rock? Because people describe Talking Heads as art rock.

[David Byrne]

We kind of were, but I sort of realized that it was not meant as a compliment.

[Stephen Colbert]

What do you think it was implying?

[David Byrne]

It implied that we were like snooty elites in who didn't really mean what we were doing. It was just an art project, you know. And then we're also called punk rockers, but we didn't feel like we liked a lot of those bands. But we didn't feel like we fit in with that genre either.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, you guys were playing CBGB's. What was it like to get into that? Was that a hard thing to break into at CBGB's? Was it like, did you have to know somebody?

[Chris Frantz]

We were very fortunate. We arrived in New York the autumn of 74, right around this time of year. And the first person I went to visit was another RISD alum, a painter named Jamie Dalgleish. David had been camping out in his loft on Bond street. And Jamie said to me, chris, you know, I know you're interested in music. There's this bar across the street or something's going on. I can tell something's going on. It's called CBGBs. You should check it out. So that night I went, you know, because I was. We were looking for a place that would be like the Cavern Club was to the Beatles, or the hotel in Richmond outside of London was to the Stones. You know, a place where, like an incubator. And I went. Nobody was playing, nothing was happening. But there was this one guy shooting pool, and he said to me in a very heavy Spanish accent, nothing going on tonight, man, but come back on the weekend, the Ramones will be here. So I thought, oh, cool, a Spanish band called Ramones.

[Becca (Producer)]

And.

[Chris Frantz]

And I went to see the Ramones, and it was unbelievable. Did you come too, David?

[David Byrne]

I might have, yeah.

[Chris Frantz]

This was in the early days when they would. They would stop in the middle of a song and argue with each other.

[Stephen Colbert]

Like, over what the lyrics are or.

[Chris Frantz]

What people are playing over how they. What they were playing. And sometimes, like, Dede would say, no, Johnny, I don't want to play. I don't want to go down to the basement. I want to play. I don't want to walk around with you. You know, like that. And they were. To us, they were like a performance art act. That was really something else. And then came Patti Smith and then came Television, and then came Mink Deville. Just all kinds of great bands.

[Stephen Colbert]

Your first tour was with the Ramones, right?

[Chris Frantz]

Yes.

[Stephen Colbert]

Tina, what was that like to be the only girl with all these guys on tour Europe? Right.

[Tina Weymouth]

I didn't know any better, so I just went along with it, you know, it was just great fun. And we got to go to all these museums and Johnny would say, oh, you're going to see some art. That is so boring. But we thought it was great because all the pressure was off us. We were the opening act.

[Stephen Colbert]

Oh, sure.

[Tina Weymouth]

And so we would just get 45 minutes. Sometimes I would have to fight with Johnny to get the tuner because we shared a tuner between two bands. But, yeah, it was a really wonderful experience because people over there, the kids, they came, they didn't make any differentiation between what type of music you were Playing. It could be the Ramones and then Talking Heads and they could mix it all up sometimes. We, we did other tours with Dire Straits, we did other tours with XTC was one. And so, I mean, it all worked together. And the kids were just having such a good time. One time we played this place in Flanders called Le Vieux Saint Jope, which was a desanctified church. And the kids were pogoing so hard and they were all drinking these popcorn size, like large sized popcorn cups of beer, European beer, you know, and they're only 14 years old and they jump so hard. Do you remember that one? And we just saw this dimple appear in the middle of the, in the middle of the crowd and we thought, oh, what?

[Stephen Colbert]

What's going on there?

[Tina Weymouth]

And then, and then those kids were falling through the floor into the basement, coming back out, crowding into the doors and pushing the new kids in.

[Stephen Colbert]

That's nice.

That's a good concert. You have to take a quick break, but stick around. We'll be right back with more Talking Heads. Everybody.

[David Byrne]

We'Re back with Talking Heads. Tina Weymouth, Chris Farance, Jerry Harrison and y', all, David Byrne.

[Stephen Colbert]

Stop Making Sense, directed by the great Jonathan Demme, is coming up on its own 40th anniversary and it's a 24, has re released it. It's. It's in theaters now, been out for a month now. David, how did this come about?

[David Byrne]

The company that had the distribution rights before the contract ran out and they're.

[Stephen Colbert]

After 40 years, it just ran out?

[David Byrne]

Yeah, it ran out and rights reverted to us.

[Stephen Colbert]

And did you guys get back together to watch it? Like, what, how did this come about where you're out here, you know, essentially promoting it?

[David Byrne]

Well, we then took advantage of the fact that we owned it and said, okay, is there a distribution company, a film company that would like to put this out properly now? And luckily A24 said, yes, we'd like to put it out and in theaters, not just dump it back onto streaming. We'd like to really do a new sound mix and get a print from the negative and make it look as good as it can go.

[Stephen Colbert]

Jerry, I understand you were involved in the remastering of the sound for this.

What was that process like?

[Jerry Harrison]

We actually remixed it more than remastering because nowadays there are these multi channel speaker systems in theaters. And so it actually was more difficult than you would think because we had to find everything and then things would be. You'd play it and it would go out of sync at some point. But eventually we did find it. The negative, amazingly, was in a warehouse in Kansas that MGM has, which had nothing to do with the film. So it was really good that we started early, and I worked with a wonderful mixer who worked on, really, the original album of Stop Making Sense, ET Thorngren. And then we went back to, actually, the same film studio, which had been called Warner Hollywood, and before that, Tad ao and now the lot. And so there was sort of a sort of symmetry going back to where we were in 84 when we mixed it.

[Stephen Colbert]

What was it like to see this film, to watch you guys perform 40 years later on an IMAX? Chris, you first. What was that? What were the emotions with that?

[Chris Frantz]

Well, it's a beautiful movie, and my wife is in it, and what a babe. I mean, when I.

[Tina Weymouth]

And you have everything.

[Chris Frantz]

Well, when I look at it, I just think, Chris, you did the right thing.

[Stephen Colbert]

There's an incredible group on stage. It's amazing. Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir. How did this group come together?

[David Byrne]

David, I'm going to give that to Jerry, I think.

[Jerry Harrison]

Yeah. It started with, of course, the tour for Remain In Light, where we had played so many parts. We go. We can't quite tour and play all of this at the same time. And we actually had the opportunity because we were playing in Central park in a festival where we were in Canada, in Mossport, near Toronto. We go, let's do an experiment and let's try having a bigger band. And I had been kind of hanging around in New York, and I'd met Bernie, and I had produced Nona Hendrix, and I was hanging around with this guy, Busta Jones. And so one afternoon I said, I'll go out and hire some people. And Adrian, who had played on the album, I called him and called Busta and Dolette and Bernie, and they all go, sure, we'll do this. And we found Steve. I came back to the studio and went, we have the best band in the world. I can't believe this. And then. Then Adrian went off to join King Crimson. We found Alex Weir sort of through Quincy Jones, I think, and.

[Chris Frantz]

Yes.

[Jerry Harrison]

You know, and then we just kept doing, and we weren't sure we were going to continue, but once we were on stage with the whole band, we go like, this is too much fun, too funky. We got to keep doing this.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, I understand. I just found this out recently, and I can't believe I didn't know this. The Ed Sullivan Building is familiar to y'. All. What did you do here in this building? What did you record here?

[Chris Frantz]

We. We recorded Some of. And mixed some of our most loved songs. We did Remain in Light. You did the vocals and some. Some overdubs.

[Stephen Colbert]

Where in the building. I just want to go build a small shrine.

[Chris Frantz]

It was. It was Sigma Sigma Sound. And it was on, I think the eighth and ninth. It was two floors. And we did. So we worked on Remain in Light. We worked on Speaking in Tongues, Burning down the house, you know, and we worked on Little Creatures.

[Stephen Colbert]

True Stories.

[Chris Frantz]

True stories.

[Jerry Harrison]

That's a big part of Naked here too.

[Chris Frantz]

Yep, that's right. Some of naked. And it was, you know, the Stones were here, the Beatles were here. So were we.

[Stephen Colbert]

I'll tell you one quick story about sort of my devotion to Talking Heads when I. So you guys are the most dominant band for me when I'm in college. I have the most time to listen to the most music. And my senior year, senior week, school's over. You haven't graduated yet. We all go to the Jersey shore, me and some friends, we stop in Philly and stay at a friend's of a friend's house. And we're listening to Talking Heads. And the parents of the kids who are friends of the friends whose house we're in goes, oh, you know, the burning down the house houses around here. And it's from the video where, like the flames are projecting the outside of the house and your face on the outside saying, watch out. That was right around the corner. So we just drove and sat in front of the house and looked at. It was just like a center hall colonial house. We were like, here we are. We're at the house. Yeah, yeah, we gotta take another little break here. But don't go nowhere. It's Talking Heads.

[Chris Frantz]

We're back with Talking Heads. Tina Weymouth, Jerry Harrison, David Byrne, and me, Chris France.

[Stephen Colbert]

And.

[Tina Weymouth]

And. And Stephen Colbert.

[Becca (Producer)]

Thank you, Tina.

[Stephen Colbert]

Now, I have zero interest in stirring the pot, but the band. That's my question, you guys. Over the last couple of decades, there's been some friction in the band, and I sincerely don't want to stir the pot. I'm just curious, is that all water under the bridge or do you still need to wear galoshes around each other? I think.

[Chris Frantz]

You know, any band that's been together a long time has had twists and turns and ups and downs, and we've all said things and we've all maybe done things that the others didn't approve of, but I think we love each other and we've made such great music together. And this movie, I mean, damn, this movie is so Good that we all agreed we got to get together and protect our legacy, which is so great.

[Stephen Colbert]

Any possibility. I legally. I legally have to ask if there's any possibility of protecting your legacy by playing together again. And I will point out. I will point out that there are guitars and keyboards and drums right over there. Thank you. You gotta admit. You gotta admit, it would be legendary right now if you got up there and played a song. It would be epic. If we did that.

[Tina Weymouth]

We'll be still waiting.

[Stephen Colbert]

Okay, sit down, sit down, sit down. That wasn't fair.

[Jerry Harrison]

Well, I want to point out one thing. Stop making sense. There's kind of. You can go and see it at a theater with amazing sound and then you get into the detail of sound and in imax, the picture. But it's a little bit steep for dancing. And then there are these places where people are like, you showed the picture and you get. It's almost like you need to go see it both places to totally understand how wonderful this new release is. Because it's so much fun to dance to. And then it's also so much fun to see. See? Wow. I'm seeing things I've never seen before. I'm hearing more than I've ever heard before.

[Stephen Colbert]

Well, people are actually going to the theater and just getting up in the aisles and dancing like it's. It's undenia. David, before we go, I just want to ask you one question, or this goes to anybody, but I'll start with you. What does it mean to stop making sense? What does that phrase mean, stop making sense to you? What does that mean?

[David Byrne]

Oh, it was more about like maybe talking to myself a little bit saying, don't be so rational all the time. Maybe sometimes trust your instinct, trust your feelings, trust those kinds of things and see what happens.

[Stephen Colbert]

We saw what happened. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for listening to the Late Show POD show with Stephen Colbert. Just one more thing. If you want to see more of me, come to The Late Show YouTube channel for more clips and exclusives.

[Becca (Producer)]

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[Stephen Colbert]

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[Becca (Producer)]

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[Stephen Colbert]

Checkout September 4th on Paramount.

[Chris Frantz]

Plus, someone is trying to frame us.

[Stephen Colbert]

Until our names are cleared, we're fugitives.

[Chris Frantz]

From Interpol Like Bonnie and Clyde with better snacks.

[Stephen Colbert]

NCIS Tony and Ziva. Streaming September 4th on Paramount. Plus.