Song · Talking Heads
“Slippery People” by Talking Heads
From the album Speaking in Tongues (1983)
“Slippery People” by Talking Heads appears on 4 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1987 and 2003. It was first released in 1983 on the album Speaking in Tongues. Its best result is #47 on the Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1988). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #4,588 alternative song of all time.
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"Slippery People" sits on Speaking in Tongues, the fifth Talking Heads album, from 1983, and it catches the band at their most churchy and communal. All four share the writing credit, they produced it themselves, and the room fills up with guests: Nona Hendryx and Dolette McDonald join Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth on backing vocals behind David Byrne's lead, Dickie Landry blows saxophone and Raphael DeJesus adds percussion.
Frantz remembered the studio take as funky and compact, and it never went out as a single. The live take from Stop Making Sense did, in October 1984: the same song blown up big as a house (or a church, he joked), with Byrne on a Roland G-303 guitar synthesizer, and Dutch and Belgian listeners made a hit of it. By Mavis Staples's account, Byrne drew the idea from watching people in church.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | 97 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1987) | 100 |
| 1988 | 47 | Studio Brussel | Studio Brussel De Tijdloze 100 (1988) | 100 |
| 2002 | 1721 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1962 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
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