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Cover of True Stories by Talking Heads
Cover: True Stories

Song · Talking Heads

“Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads

From the album True Stories (1986)

“Wild Wild Life” by Talking Heads appears on 39 radio countdowns from 15 stations between 1986 and 2023. It was first released in 1986 on the album True Stories. Its best result is #4 on the 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #5 alternative song of 1986, #620 alternative song of all time and #100 of the '80s.

39countdowns
15stations
#4best position
0#1 finishes
3top 10 finishes
1986–2023years charted

Watch

Talking Heads - Wild Wild Life (Official Video)

Video from YouTube (Talking Heads). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Wild Wild Life" kicked off True Stories, Talking Heads' seventh album, as its lead single in 1986, and it's the band at their most playful: a sly, strutting pop tune that sounds like a party where everybody is in on the joke. David Byrne wrote it alone and sings lead, while Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison and Tina Weymouth pile on the backing vocals.

The engine is as tight as ever. Byrne and Harrison trade guitar parts, Harrison adds keyboards, Weymouth's bass bounces and Frantz keeps the beat crisp and dry. Eric Thorngren recorded it and Mick Guzauski mixed it, and the sound is bright and clean enough for any radio in the land.

It turned out to be the band's third and final top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and it traveled well, reaching number two in New Zealand and number nine in Ireland.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

Classic Rock

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1986 10 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1986 107
1986 4 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1986 90
1986 5 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1986 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 143 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 338 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 244 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1992 299 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 204 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 369 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1995 364 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1996 380 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 184 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1998 463 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 332 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 598 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 692 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 692 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 693 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 693 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 612 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 693 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 820 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 693 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 694 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 834 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2005 95 96.5 The Buzz 96.5 The Buzz Top 96 of the 70s & 80s 96
2007 814 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 761 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 785 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 801 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 827 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 859 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 907 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2014 806 Big 100 BIG 1000 New Year's Countdown (2014) 1000
2019 932 102.5 KZOK KZOK Top 1025 of 2019 1025
2021 257 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 462 99.1 PLR 99.1 PLR Big 500 (2022) 500
2023 843 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2023 602 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of All Time 909

Also listed as: Wild, Wild Life; Wild Life.

Charting alongside it in 1986

Best songs of 1986 →
  1. 1PanicThe Smiths
  2. 2AskThe Smiths
  3. 3Bigmouth Strikes AgainThe Smiths
  4. 4SledgehammerPeter Gabriel
  5. 6Don't Get Me WrongThe Pretenders
  6. 7Bizarre Love TriangleNew Order

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