Tom Tom Club

"Genius of Love" is bonkers in the best way. The whole album is a wild ride that goes all over the place, but maintains a fun and playful spirit throughout. David Byrne is a fascinating figure, but this really shows you how much Frantz and Weymouth brought to the Talking Heads sound. Absolutely bursting with creative energy but doesn't take itself too seriously. One of the best side projects of all time.

It's all a bit weird and silly and shit.

is this the kind of album that hipsters listen to when they congregate?

After listening i can only get hard while listening to the long version of Genius of Love. 2/5

With their band on top of their game, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz decided that sitting on their hands while their elastic, observant and forever curious frontman went out and explored new territories wasn't going to work for them and, in the process, set about standing out from the pack in more ways than one. For this debut album from the Tom Tom Club, with its hand-drawn aesthetic and endless nods to emerging hip-hop culture and post-disco reverie, evokes a interminable summer vibe where it is blissful to be young with no worries in the world and little need to be skeptical and suspicious about things. In Tom Tom Club's world, it's just them and scores more would come, on and on... there are more of them, more than anyone would realize.

One I have on vinyl. A very strong piece of evidence that Weymouth and Frantz were the genius of the Talking Heads, rather than David Byrne (the truth is it's all of them). Just 8 tracks of funk/reggae/hip-hop inflected weirdness. Joy. If you listen to Genius of Love and don't want to bop, you may be medically dead

I don't see the appeal of this album. It feels more like a novelty record than actual music at times and many of the songs go on way longer than felt necessary. On the plus side, now I know where the sample in Fantasy came from!

I think "infectious" is the best word to describe this album. Just some great grooves. I've always thought that Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth were criminally overlooked and underrated as the key to the Talking Heads' sound. It's like people thought Talking Heads was all David Byrne and the rest were just session musicians. Anyway, this is a great album and showcase for Chris and Tina, with help from Adrian Belew and others. 4 stars.

This is wild. First track is like "wtf is going on, it's catchy though... this is like new wave Kraftwerk". Then I saw it was Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth from The Talking Heads and it all made sense. Ohhh shit Genius of Love, I've heard this. The synth and random chirps are so good. This is like a different take on "Once In a Lifetime" by Talking Heads. I will say overall some of the songs overstay their welcome a bit and I wish a few stopped 2 mins earlier, but overall a grand showcase of what others besides David Byrne add to Talking Heads. I'm in heaven With the maven of funk mutationa

Proof that Talking Heads was more than David Byrne. The OTHER members keep pushing limits in what is an instrument to song composition.

Better than at least two of the Talking Heads records on this list.

Musically talented, but is proof they needed a frontman and vocalist with the zaniness of David Byrne to really pull it all together. Still enjoyable though.

Finally! I've been waiting for this album on the list. I used to think that Genius of Love and Wordy Rappinghood were two of the most ingenious songs of the 80s! Brilliant unique sound and I have wanted to hear the rest of the album. Standouts: Genius of Love, Wordy Rappinghood Others: L'éléphant Rating: 3.5

Didn't expect to like this as much as I did. The beats are undeniable. This also has some "cool factor", if I put this on with company, i'd seem cool and obscure. All in all, a good time.

Quirky sound and odd lyrics that result in some strange fun.

I love literally anything even tangentially related to Talking Heads, so I am all about this shit. Can I join the club???

I could hear the music that this album went on to influence. In its infancy, hip hop has something to pay homage to here with the style and daring Visio. From Tom Tom Club. Not perfect, but visionary.

Þetta er hressileg plata, skemmtilegur early 80s hljóðheimur og ein dansgólfsbomba.

Good performances by the aforementioned great rhythm section of Talking Heads. This album reveals they would have most likely been stuck in their TH77 days if the songwriting had been more democratic. As a frontman and penman for their material, Chris and Tina needed David Byrne to take the next leap. I enjoyed this though.

I read somewhere that this album and the associated singles sold more copies/made more money than all of the Talking Heads work combined! It's been fun over the years hearing "Genius Of Love" re-worked repeatedly to give some substance to the current chart flavor-of-the-month. There's a 10+ minute dub version out there with ear-splittingly loud bass, a phenomenal soundtrack for a late night drive down a dark desert road.

Twenty one years ago we went on a road trip through the Deep South. Each of us made a mixtape and the songs I remember most from that trip were “Crime in the City” (Neil Young, Howard’s choice, the song that made me realise I like NY), “The Mercy Seat” (Johnny Cash covering Cave, Simon’s choice), “Love Spreads” (the Stone Roses, my choice as I thought it would be funny to bring a Manc version of Southern Rock), and “Genius of Love” (Dinah’s choice, maybe my favourite). I bought this album when I got back and was disappointed. The first two tracks are great, the rest underwhelmed me. I’m pleased to discover today that the rest is better than I remember: throwaway, but happy. This isn’t a great album, but it’s lovelier than many better ones here.

The whole album is a wild ride that goes all over the place, but maintains a fun and playful spirit throughout. David Byrne is a fascinating figure, but this really shows you how much Frantz and Weymouth brought to the Talking Heads sound. Absolutely bursting with creative energy but doesn't take itself too seriously. One of the best side projects of all time.

Aside from genius of love this is a pretty weird album that seems like a cross between kids songs and Halloween themed music. It’s unique and experimental but overall it’s a bit weird for me. I can see the talking heads pieces but the main guy is what made them great. This couple helped make them different. 5.2/10

Too squeaky and lame.

What a joy!

This is so fun! "Wordy Rappinghood" is just a blast. I recognize "Genius of Love" a little bit, but this is just a fun little album! I like how easy it is to, like, jam to it and it is just good vibes. While a lot ended up on my Ridiculous Music playlist, that is as a positive. Sometimes it's fun to get a little funky and silly and this album really embodies that!

The opening bars of "Genius of Love" has to be one of the most sampled riffs ever, 20+ times by well-known bands – and the lyrics pay tribute to many of the great funk bands of the prior decades. “WordyRappinghood” is a nice bookend to Blondie’s “Rapture”, which came out a year earlier. Those were the only two songs I could name from this album, which I owned, as did my co-judge. But listening to it 40 years later, I like most of the supporting tracks as well. The production would have been quite fresh in 1981: L Elephant sounds like a Talking Heads rhythm track, especially with the addition of Adrian Belew’s guitar. They mix up the mood nicely, with dark funk like “Booming and Zooming” and Go-Go’s worthy anthems like “On On On”. The lyrics are clever, disguised by the Weymouth sisters' vocals. A catchy, well-rounded album.

Caught Tom Tom Club at Glastonbury a few years ago and they were one of the most energetic and enthusiastic bands I saw, despite also being one of the oldest. This album transfers that feeling well; it's like you've been invited into their home and they're all giving you a big hug.

The excitement I felt when this popped up… Funky, fun, experimental and so influential. I’ll always love anything Chris, Tina, David or Jerry touch, so this is an easy perfect score in my book.

Perfect. Listened @ FTD, perfect.

Like hip-hop dropped acid! So many original sounds in this album

I could listen to this on repeat. I was familiar with Genius of Love but none of the other songs.

5 stars. So good.

Loved this when it came out many years ago…It was fresh and revolutionary then. It remains fresh and revolutionary today.

I'd been greatly looking forward to this, as I'm a Talking Heads convert and was aware of this side project from Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz. I loved it and will definitely be keeping this on my phone. I liked all of the songs but this album deserves 5 stars for "Wordy Rappinghood" alone.

Before MTV there was HBO Video Jukebox, and "Genius of Love" with its fun animated video played a lot between movies back then. I only knew the song from that context for a long time. I loved hearing the whole album today! It's fun and cool and I wish I'd listened to it long ago.

Yeah, this album is still as great as it was in the 80s: two big hit singles and lots of other strong pop songs (such as On on on on, Booming & zooming). Of course, this is no Talking Heads (even though some songs like As Above So Below sound like typical TH songs) but I much prefer it over, say, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

Great album. I'd heard lots of these songs before but never listened through. It definitely sounds like Talking Heads, but weird in sort of a different way. You can hear more of this upbeat fun kind of style in their next couple albums, so I wonder if that was Chris and Tina getting a bit more creative freedom without Eno around?

Maybe the easiest 5 I've given. Fun, funky and weird and as good as any Talking Heads album.

Well damn, this was a surprise! The only Tom Tom Club track I was aware of going in was "Genius of Love", and then it wasn't the whole song - it was the sample from Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five's "It's Nasty" and it's partial use in an episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia"! 😆 Based on that, I was kinda expecting some throwaway novelty record that would almost instantly become annoying to listen to. This actually slaps, though - like a far less obnoxious Public Image Ltd in places. New wave / post-punk / disco / world music all thrown together, but it sounds like its own thing. "Wordy Rappinghood" on paper should be radioactive cringe but in practice it really works! I guess because they're riffing on early hip-hop rather than trying to actually do hip-hop? Will definitely be checking out their other albums. Fave tracks - "Wordy Rappinghood", "Genius of Love", "As Above, So Below", and probably my absolute fave goes to "On,On,On,On..." - the optimism of that song healed my soul, a little

This feels like an early 90s version of Superorganism which is right up my alley. Such a delightfully joyful bop along album. Faves? All of them

Old fave

Ooh yeah, I absolutely love Tina Weymouth and this wacky off shoot of the Talking Heads. Genius of Love is one of my fun go-to songs, and you gotta love how zany, funky, and lighthearted this is. I consider this album a treat.

Great fun funky sounds. Bit silly but so catchy

Plenty of talent to Talking Heads outside of David Byrne.

I remember this when it came out and it confused me. Since then I've heard David and Talking and Eno but this was just these two on a sabbatical. Seriously inventive and fun to listen to.

cool weirdo shit

God bless Tina and Chris!

Cool, most songs could not be played but what I heard was good

When the bass player and drummer husband-wife duo get to prove their value.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Wordy rappinghood, On on on on, Under the boardwalk

New wave, great!

Say what you will about Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, they really were firing on all cylinders on this album.

Groovy

A quality album, just always enjoy listening to Knopfler, even some of the more average stuff.

Nice funky album from the Golden age of Talking Heads/Byrne&Eno/Tom Tom Club. Great rhythms, poppy (1st two songs) or more African beats.

I am very amused but also confused. This sounds like something Ian would listen too. Overall it was fun background music, but I don't think I would play it with anyone around.

Hypnotic beats whose frequent samplings make perfect sense. "Genius of Love" is the hookiest of all, with Lorelei" a bit of a revelation here, largely for having been forgotten. Better than one remembers; it's likably light-hearted and what once took as silly feels a touch more substantive now.

A bizarre, funky, funny, catchy album filled with a French-style disco-esque charm. Really groovy! Also it's cool to see the origin of a sample, with Genius Of Love. Such a summery, catchy beat. Wordy Rappinghood, Genius Of Love and L'Elephant are the standout tracks for me here, and the others aren't quite as good or interesting to me, but this is still a very cool and groovy album that I think I'll look out for, to add to my record collection. Favourite: Wordy Rappinghood

I liked this one. Sure they borrowed from Talking Heads but you can't steal from yourself right? It has a good groove and I really liked the percussion - more specifically - the tom-toms. Who would've guessed that would be their strong suit?

Charming, joyfully odd, irresistibly fun. This is a funky, blippy and percussive musical adventure that invites us all to just embrace our inner weirdos and dance. Lots of little nuances that sound amazing coming through a pair of headphones. The album loses steam on the final few tracks, but it's an absolutely unique and delightful experience. Fave Songs: Genius of Love; Wordy Rappinghood; Lorelei; As Above, So Below; L'éléphant

This album really snuck up on me. It started out with a goofy ass rap song that was somewhat cringe but I didn’t dislike it and it just grew in quality for me song by song. I was hit with the shock that the iconic genius of love riff came before it’s nasty and after that I was totally won over by tracks like as above so below, Lorelai, and under the boardwalk. The energy, quirkiness, and richness of the production is what makes it good I think. We’re it not for tracks like Tom Tom theme it’d get a 5 Edit: this whole album makes so much more sense knowing that it’s a side project of talking heads members that aren’t David byrne. Completely explains the eccentricity throughout.

Really weird, but really great.

Enjoyed this a lot

Pretty much what I expected from a more poppy Talking Heads spin off. Pretty great honestly, Genius of Love is killer and there are definitely a few other songs here that I'll be putting on repeat. I always need more offbeat pop music in my life. Solid 4 with room to grow perhaps.

While Under the Boardwalk could have been eliminated from this album, I loved every other song. I'm loving 80s music way more now than then.

Surprising how much I enjoyed this album. It's not great, but it's good and I will listen to it again.

I've listened to Genius of Love a lot. The rest of the album was a pleasant surprise. Would listen again. The best of the Talking Heads spin offs?

B-52s vibes but the first couple songs are clearly the best part of the album. 7/10

8/10. This kept me on my toes, and I liked that after a series of albums that were kinda what I expected after the first song. I don't know that I'd give it such a high rating on a repeat listen, but I did have a good time on this first one.

Nice synthy poo

I have no fucking idea what I just listened to but I'm here for it.

4.0

Had never heard of this before, then clicked the wiki to see that it was a side project of half of Talking Heads (plus Adrian Belew who was on Remain in Light). So I was then pretty excited to hear it, and lo and behold, it's a fantastic album. Brings the eccentricity of the last Heads album and bumps up the danceability. Can't help but feel like this was a big influence on Belew as I hear a lot of similarities between this and the King Crimson album Discipline that he would record just months after this one. If you're a Talking Heads fan then this is almost like an extra album from their prime era to enjoy. Will be going back to this one for sure, especially Genius of Love, what a great song.

I love Genius of Love, one of my favorite songs. Great dance album with interesting tunes and rhythms.

very funky and original.

Wow, I didn't know this bad (project) by name, but there are so, SO many tracks I had heard before. Case in point: Genius of Love. And the cover of Under the Boardwalk is utter genius. So while this may not be as iconic as a handful of other albums, I thoroughly enjoyed this. 4/5

This makes me happy

This is some fun summer music

I feel like this is where funk meets almost new wave. Plenty of songs that get samples from this album.

Heard before. Really wacky and I love it. Liked almost every song besides On On On On and Booming and Zooming. + Wordy Rappinghood + Lorelei + L Elephant

A fun train wreck! Maybe like a mad rollercoaster that goes wrong but no-one gets seriously hurt, so everyone just enjoyed the wild ride.

I hadn't heard this before. It was fun and interesting.

Unsurprisingly good grooves from Talking Heads’ rhythm section, surprisingly goofy and bizarre music. Genius of Love is a classic, Wordy Rappinghood is a hoot and if the rest doesn’t quite hit the same heights it’s an enjoyable, entertaining record.

Just reviewed More Songs About Buildings and Food yesterday. I liked this one better somehow. You can definitely tell where a lot of Talking Heads sound comes from. Not afraid to let the tracks breathe a little bit.

Really good

Väldigt annorlunda platta men det visste jag ju sedan tidigare. Bra är det i alla fall.

El pas al costat abandonant temporalembt Talking Heads en el seu millor moment artístic, per donar vida a una proposta més centrada en les cançons, va ser, amb el prisma del temps, tot un encert. Deixant de banda els ritmes sincopats i les experimentacions amb què Eno i Byrne donaven forma als temes dels Heads en aquell període, Tina Weymouth i Chris Frantz, amb l'ajuda de gent tan top com Adrian Belew, creen un disc pel record. Cançons molt més enfocades a la melodia, amb la seva indubtable part d'experimentació, gairebé ineludible en aquells anys màgics. Un cert toc jamaicà acaba d'arrodonir un treball fantàstic, del tot addictiu

Better than expected

Really great. The frenchy vibe is really good, and except some tracks which are meh, the others are great.

Great fun, it does have elements of Remain In Light like the dance-funk of L’Elephant, On x4 and the slightly dark new wave of As Above, So Below. Genius of Love is undeniably influential on hip hop and music right up to the present, although recent samples are probably samples of samples with the new/young artists not actually being familiar with the original source! Overall good fun.

Very innovative, with some wonderful tracks. A little dated now (which is fair for an album more than 40 years old)

Oh this is Tina Weymouth's band. Finally an obscure weirdo pick that I'm familiar with. I'm not a fan of the Talking Heads mostly because I can't stand David Byrne's stupid yelps, so taking them out and replacing them with pleasant female vocals makes for a good album. I think this is how Talking Heads sound like to Talking Heads fans and my brain is just worm-infected. First two songs are amazing. "Genius of Love" might (semi-directly) be one of the most important songs of all time.

I was surprised by how many songs I knew considering I hadn't heard of the band. Good stuff.

so much fun, its a shame most of the album in not available on spotify.

Not knowing anything about the band, the first thing I thought was “wow this is very talking heads”…then I read the article and found out it is in fact 2/3rds of the talking heads… amazing. This album is absolutely a bop. Only wish there was more of it. Standout tracks: Wordy Rappinghood, Genius of Love

Great album. Never knew this band was Talking Heads members.

This was great! Some songs stood out as very good, but the entire album was really nice.

Rips

Love it, they have such a fun sound. I love hearing the Talking Heads influences but it's like they just went and had fun with that similar sound and did what they want without Mr Byrne hanging out. Like the Dad was out and they messed around