“Television Man” by Talking Heads

David Byrne wrote "Television Man" on his own, and it landed on Little Creatures, the sixth Talking Heads album, which Sire released in June 1985. The band produced it themselves and all four share the arranging credit: Byrne sings lead and plays guitar, Jerry Harrison plays guitar and keyboards, Tina Weymouth plays bass and Chris Frantz drums, with Harrison and Weymouth adding backing vocals.

The guests widen the frame: Lenny Pickett on saxophone, Steve Scales on congas, bongos and tambourine, and backing singers Erin Dickens, Gordon Grody, Lani Groves and Kurt Yahijian, with Eric Thorngren recording and mixing. Little Creatures was the band's turn toward Americana and country, and it paid off handsomely: the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics poll named it album of the year, and it became their best-selling studio album.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz.