Reviews "The Good the Bad and the Funky" tour

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• Oct 15, 2000 - House of Blues, Chicago, IL
• April 23, 2001 - Electric Ballroom, London, UK
• Sept 29, 2001 - State Theatre, St. Petersburg, Fl

Tom Tom Club moves on from Talking Heads to share

The Good, The Bad, and The Funky House of Blues in Chicago. October 15, 2000 By Andy Argyrakis

Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth may not be talking their heads off anymore, but they're still stirring up great music as The Tom Tom Club. The former Talking Heads members are back in action with their beloved band The Tom Tom Club, who just released their first album in over 8 years called The Good the Bad and the Funky. "We really focused on the organic process of song writing for this album," says bass player and vocalist Weymouth. "We didn't think about what songs would translate well on stage, just the fact that we would please everyone from our friends, to the kids in our neighborhood, to each of the group members."

The title pinpoints the disc's vibrant funk and soul arrangements, while the lyrics tell basic stories of the positives and negatives of everyday life. However, the group's energy can best be transformed in their live performances, such as their recent stop at the House of Blues in Chicago. "The image this band wants to portray is one that brings sheer essence of joy to its listeners," Weymouth says of The Tom Tom Club's live shows. "We're very happy to play for each audience and are thankful that the public has embraced us, our albums, and concerts."

At that particular show, the band sampled songs off the new album, like the energetic "Time to Bounce," the satirical "Happiness Can't Buy Money," and the fast paced "Soul Fire." The band got the crowd dancing to "Who Feelin' It" and also dabbled into their spiritual side on "Holy Water." "That song is meant to convey a message to society that if children are loved, nurtured, and cared about they will turn out fine," Weymouth reflects. "Holy Water is symbolic of those other kids that don't have get that attention. If they were only given that boost from those around them, they would turn out fine too." The band also touches on other hopeful themes throughout the new album, and their entire songbook for that matter.

However, it was 1981's "Genius of Love" that earned the band their largest helping of commercial success. The track was sampled by diva Mariah Carey a few years ago on her hit single "Fantasy." The band has also been sampled by the likes of reggae star Ziggy Marley to rapper Coolio. "We feel the need to keep making music which has the ability to be sampled by other artists," Weymouth adds. "We like the sense of community it brings about and it's a great feeling knowing that one of your songs has helped another artist progress in their art form." Another Tom Tom Club highlight on the tour is their finale tune "Take Me to the River," an Al Green penned track that also made a triumphant appearance on the Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" audio and video recordings. However, don't expect The Tom Tom Club's show to be a flashback to the days with their former band. They steer clear of all the Talking Heads' other songs, establishing themselves by making high quality music in their present configuration.

As for a Talking Heads reunion, Frantz and Weymouth aren't counting on it. In fact, their mid 90's collaboration with the other former members, minus lead singer David Byrne, was probably the closet thing fans would ever see. The event sparked controversy with Byrne, who quickly took his ex-bandmates to court for calling the group a name that bears similarity to their previous band. In the meantime, the Tom Tom Club is the next best thing and their set list will make fans of both groups fall in love with each and every new song. "The reason we're not doing the Talking Heads songs is because they are all so old," Weymouth says. "Those songs are a lot of fun, by we're really focused on going forward. We have a big enough repertoire on our own and we play songs from most of our discs. Plus most of the Talking Heads songs are a different style than The Tom Tom Club's songs, so they just won't fit the set.".

Grins all round from Tom Tom Club

John Aizlewood Guardian Unlimited Wednesday April 25, 2001

"God," says Tina Weymouth, by way of the warmest of welcomes, "how we've missed you." She has a point, for the Talking Heads sideline she formed with husband Chris Frantz have not played in Britain for 13 years. Much has happened since: Talking Heads are no more; Frantz and Weymouth's The Heads never gelled; most depressing of all, Tom Tom Club still struggle to rise above insipid on disc.

Live, though, Tom Tom Club can do no wrong. At the front of the stage with bassist Weymouth are cheery, Stakhanovite vocalists Mystic Bowie and Victoria Clamp. Bowie's dreadlocks are saturated by the end of the opening Suboceana; when he performs the encore, 96 Tears by ? and the Mysterians and Al Green's Take Me to the River (which Talking Heads also used to cover) he is topless, and sprays front rows and bandmates alike. Clamp is tall and pretty but, like Bowie, she is a dervish, sprinting across stage, hitting various percussion instruments, waving to the crowd and never missing a syllable on the complex Wordy Rappinghood, which climaxes in an almighty percussive duel between Bruce Martin and Abdou M'Boup.

Behind them Frantz plays in gloves but has the avuncular presence of John Goodman. No wonder everyone on stage, save sullen guitarist Robbie Aceto, smiles all the time. The newer material - Who Feelin' It, Happiness Can't Buy Money (choreographed somewhere between Cameo and Bucks Fizz) and Lee Perry's Soul Fire - bristles with intricate rhythms and choruses to savour. The older fare - Genius of Love, The Man with the Four-Way Hips - serves to remind that Frantz and Weymouth do not always need David Byrne.

The surprising highlight of a rather surprising evening is their joyful but watertight sprint through Hot Chocolate's You Sexy Thing, a song they were covering long before The Full Monty. Bowie and Clamp chase each other around the stage, Weymouth looks on like a mother hen, Frantz growls "you sexy thing, you" whenever he feels the need and Aceto powers out the riff as if it were When the Levee Breaks. Live music does not get any better than this - really. Faultless.

The State Theatre, St. Petersburg, FL September 29th, 2001 by Bob Pomeroy

Like many of you, Iíve been walking around in a mild state of shock for the past two weeks. The objective of terror is to inflict as much psychic collateral damage as possible. The best act of defiance I can think of is to get back to business as usual. Still, Iíve felt weird about trying to write about music. It somehow seems frivolous. The whole country is in mourning and the idea of having fun somehow seems disrespectful.

I almost didn't go to the Tom Tom Club show at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg. The man on the news show was trying scare me silly with more speculation about horrors yet to come. I almost turned into a TV zombie again, but I turned off the tube, got off the sofa, and headed over to check out the show. Call it groove catharsis, but seeing The Tom Tom Club was the best thing I could have done for myself. When the band kicked into "Time To Bounce" early in the set, their joy in the simple pleasure of dancing to the funk swept over the audience. I looked around and saw people bouncing to the beat, throwing their hands in the air and really enjoying the moment. I found myself bouncing along, too.

Tina Weymouth shared vocal duties with Mystic Bowie and Victoria Clamp on many songs. The unison leads work sound really good on tunes like "Happiness Can't Buy Money." Mystic took a lead early on a version of "Soul Fire," and Victoria took center stage later in the set. Tina introduced "Genius Of Love" as "the song that allows us to stay on the road." They sure looked like they were having fun playing it. Who needs to think when your feet just go?

Another high point came when percussionist Steve Scales came forward to lead the sing-along portion of "Take Me to the River." It's another song that the band has been doing for years, but it sounded like an old time tent revival tonight. In a way, The Tom Tom Club show was a revival meeting. They brought us the gospel of funk and reggae and dance. Seeing The Tom Tom Club was like seeing old friends. Tina still looks (and plays) great. Chris Frantz looks a little like Bill Clinton these days. Bruce Martin and Robby Aceto rounded out the band on keyboards and guitar, respectively. Victoria's parents were in the audience. For a few minutes, at least, the most important thing in the world was grooving to "Wordy Rappinghood."