"And She Was" by Talking Heads

Song#:  2448
Date:  09/07/1985
Debut:  94
Peak:  54
Weeks:  20
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Talking Heads gained a wider, more mainstream audience when their single "Burning Down the House" made it to #9. It helped turn their album Speaking in Tongues into a platinum-level seller. Following a concert film and associated live/soundtrack album, the Heads returned to the studio to record a proper follow-up. The album would be titled Little Creatures and its first single would be the closing track "Road to Nowhere." The track made it to #25 at Rock, but it failed to reach the Pop chart. It didn't set the album up for success, but then this second single was issued and things turned around. The track got to #11 at Rock while just missing out on the Pop Top 50. It also got to #33 at Dance. It was helped along by a popular video that got the band two MTV Music Video Award nominations - one for Best Group Video and one for Best Concept Video. The Little Creatures LP would reach #20 on the chart and over time it would go double-platinum, which would make it their best-selling studio album.

ReduxReview:  I think this is one of Talking Heads' most pop-friendly, radio ready tracks and I was surprised that it didn't do better on the chart. It might have done better had it been the first single, but for some reason they issued out "Road to Nowhere," which then should have been the follow-up. David Byrne can write a commercial leaning tune when he wants to and this was one of his best efforts to do so.

ReduxRating:  8/10

Trivia:  For this song's video, the band wanted to hire on director Jim Blashfield. They had seen Blashfield's short film Suspicious Circumstances, which utilized a collage-style animation technique, and thought it would be perfect for "And She Was." Blashfield signed on and after the success of the video, more offers came in. He would end up doing several more music videos for artists like Paul Simon, Tears for Fears, Peter Gabriel, and even Weird Al Yankovic. His most successful video was for Michael Jackson's "Leave Me Alone." Although that song would not be issued in the US as a single (it was elsewhere including the UK where it hit #2), the video was very successful on MTV. It would be nominated for six MTV Music Video Awards including Best Video. It would win one for Best Special Effects. It would also win a Grammy for Best Music Video, Short Form.

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