Byrne never looked anyone in the eye, and he maintained a disassociated demeanor which caused the author to surmise he might be вЂњon the high end of the spectrumвЂќ. The drummer felt there was something odd about their frontman from the start. Still, the meatiest part of FrantzвЂ™s book bores into the relationship between Byrne and the other three Heads, including guitarist Jerry Harrison. Lou was a good friend and continued to be, despite that.вЂќ вЂњIt was a ridiculous agreement,вЂќ Frantz said. He wanted to sign them to a recording contract, but when Frantz and others looked it over, they realized it gave ownership of their catalogue entirely to Reed and his manager, which would have sent all the profits from album sales their way. He invited them up to his place, where he proceeded to eat an entire gallon of ice cream in front of them, while offering his critique of the band. Soon after Talking Heads started to gain a foothold at CBGB, Lou Reed befriended, and courted, them вЂ“ if in his own peculiar way. вЂњJohnny was a real son of a bitch,вЂќ said Frantz. The famously small-minded guitarist considered Talking Heads either pretentious or baffling. Once he discovered their true origin and style, he loved their minimalism and humor, but the feeling wasnвЂ™t returned by Johnny Ramone. When Frantz first heard about the Ramones, he thought they were a Mexican band. вЂњShe had great empathy for people like William Burroughs but, for kids who just got out of art school, zero.вЂќ вЂњIt was definitely reverse snobbism,вЂќ Frantz said. When they first met Smith, she dismissed them as rich kids, based on their pedigree as recent graduates of the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design, where the core of the band had formed in 1973. Of course, he also covers the ground-breaking band he and Weymouth created, Tom Tom Club.ДЄn early section of the book details Talking HeadsвЂ™ first days at CBGB in 1975, when they were upstarts, trying to break into a world dominated by Patti Smith, the Ramones and Television. Beyond Talking Heads, he tells hilarious, if often unflattering, tales about Patti Smith, Lou Reed, Johnny Ramone, Happy Mondays (who Frantz and Weymouth, at one point, unhappily produced), and frequent Talking Heads producer Brian Eno. In his book, Frantz also writes about his 42-year marriage to Weymouth with a warmth and awe that inspired its title. As evidence, his book proudly details the artistic highlights of a band that rates as one of musicвЂ™s most creative units вЂ“ a group so visionary that, as he writes, вЂњWe were post-punk before punk even happened.вЂќ At the same time, Frantz appreciates the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity the alchemy of Talking Heads provided for him and the other members. Towards that end, Frantz contends, Byrne often seized sole writing credit on songs the whole band had created, denigrated the other membersвЂ™ musicianship вЂ“ particularly that of bassist Tina Weymouth (who is married to Frantz) вЂ“ and put enough space between him and the other members socially to suggest contempt for them as people.

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