Talking Dreads

Talking Dreads

The name of this band is Talking Dreads. Talking Dreads? Talking Dreads!

Sounds familiar? Of course! And a dead giveaway as to what they’re throwing
down! But what’s in store is so much more than a reggae-tribute of the Talking
Heads’ top hits. Picture that famously funky frequency, picked up on the sun-
bathed beaches of Jamaica and put through a polyphonically Caribbean
kaleidoscope!

You may think “this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no foolin’ around”
music, and you’re right: this is serious...as in seriously good! A non-stop, fun-
loving musical journey that’s as good for the head as it is for the soul. So get
ready to get up, get set and get down as Talking Dreads take you joyriding in
their tour-de-force debut!

Talking Dreads began as a project born from the audacious notion that hardcore
Heads-lovers wouldn’t mind a tinkering or two with their favorite Talking Heads
tunes, and there is a lot of great music here that will make you stop, listen and
smile a little bit more as you’re grooving along to the joyous rhythms and jubilant
spirit of the island vibe.

Talking Dreads is the brainchild of Head Dread, Mystic Bowie, a Jamaican artist
whose long and close relationship with Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth,
founding members of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, began when he joined
the latter group as a singer in 1996. He then recorded and performed with Tom
Tom Club for nearly twenty years and continues to bear fruit from their unending
collaborations.

This inaugural effort from Talking Dreads features an amazing lineup of stellar
reggae stalwarts including Freddie McGregor [‘Rastaman Camp’, Bobby
Babylon], ska-guitar master Ernest Ranglin (session player and arranger of
Millie’s smash ‘My Boy Lollipop’, the Melodians ‘Rivers Of Babylon’, and
countless other tracks], and Tarrus Reilly (’Start Anew’, ‘Good Girl Gone Bad’) as
well as a little help from punk-pop diva Cindy Wilson of the B-52s (‘Rock Lobster’,
‘Love Shack’).

Talking Heads’ music was a formative influence on Mystic Bowie since childhood.
The marriage of Talking Heads jagged, Rhode Island art school punk with
bouncing, sunny Caribbean rhythms appealed to him because “reggae’s dance-
inspiring, feel-good vibe is universal as are many of Talking Heads’ songs. And
don’t forget their intelligent, powerful, interesting lyrics! I’m convinced that there
are a lot of music lovers who will appreciate this fusion as much as I do”.

Mystic Bowie determined what songs he wanted to record before going into the
studio, but added one more song to the list at the suggestion of a Talking Heads
“insider.” “I had all of the songs decided before going into the studio except for
‘Love Building on Fire’, which was added at the request of Sire Records founder
Seymour Stein. Seymour told me that that song really influenced him to give
Talking Heads their deal.”

In addition to these livelied-up re-takes of Talking Heads’ classics, Talking
Dreads’ debut recording also includes two timeless pop bonuses: “Piece of My
Heart,” so often attributed to Janis Joplin thanks to her famous cover with Big
Brother and the Holding Company, and “Shakedown Street,” a song near and
dear to all those in Deadhead nation. “If audiences have even a fraction of the
fun listening to this as we had making it, we’ll return to the studio to skank-ify
more great songs in the near future”, says Bowie.

Talking Dreads has sold out performances under their belt including shows at
High Times Magazine Cannabis Cup Festival in Negril, Jamaica and Fairfield
Theatre - The Warehouse in Fairfield, Connecticut.