Album · Talking Heads
Talking Heads: 77 by Talking Heads
Talking Heads: 77 is an album by Talking Heads, released in 1977. 4 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 109 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Psycho Killer”, on 98 lists with a best position of #6.
Talking Heads: 77, the band's debut, came out on Sire in September 1977, and it's jittery, brainy and oddly danceable. They recorded it that April at Sundragon Studios in New York, producing alongside Tony Bongiovi, with David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and newcomer Jerry Harrison in the lineup.
This is art punk that would rather tap its toes than spit. The rhythms are tight and funky, the guitars clean and twitchy, and the vocals yelp and fret like a nervous clerk who has seen too much. "Psycho Killer" is the one that stuck, with a creeping bass line and a creepy, deadpan edge, and it scraped into the Hot 100 at No. 92. "Pulled Up" bursts with nervy optimism, "The Book I Read" bubbles and swoons, and "Don't Worry About the Government" is a sunny, sincere little oddity.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Talking Heads: 77 on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Psycho Killer#217 of all time | 98 | #6 | – | 1987–2026 | |
| 2 | Pulled Up | 6 | #340 | – | 1989–2026 | |
| 3 | Don't Worry About the Government | 4 | #194 | – | 2001–2025 | |
| 4 | The Book I Read | 1 | #1346 | – | 2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.