ROCK Sex: "Crosseyed And Painless" - Fela > Talking Heads > Brazilian Girls > Angelique Kidjo

"I'm changing my shape, I feel like an accident,
They're back to explain their experience..."

ROCK Sex says "facts continue to change their shape".

Another cultural relay handoff today, centered around a TALKING HEADS song.

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Nigerian FELA Ransome Kuti is the father of AfroBeat, a polyrhythmic and political funk-jazz inspired by James Brown and the counterculture rebellion of the '60s.

These propulsive jams had enormous musical influence, from the late '70s New York DIY scene and London's dub culture, to son Femi Kuti and Antibalas today.

FELA -"Roforofo Fight" (1972)



New York's Talking Heads and producer Brian Eno expanded their palette with a kind of abstract Punk take on AfroBeat, starting with the crucial album REMAIN IN LIGHT (1980).

Their expanded touring band included keyboard sorceror Bernie Worrell (P-Funk) and guitar maniac Adrian Belew (King Crimson).

TALKING HEADS -"Crosseyed And Painless" (1980)



New York's Brazilian Girls stirs the pan-cultural stew further with their take on the Heads' song. Singer Sabina Sciubba scats across five different languages.

BRAZILIAN GIRLS -"Crosseyed And Painless" (2006)



In 2018, Benin's favorite musical maverick Anglelique Kidjo remade the entire REMAIN IN LIGHT album.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO -"Crosseyed And Painless" (2018)



"The feeling returns whenever we close our eyes
Lifting my head, looking around inside..."


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Take Me To the River" - Al Green > Bryan Ferry > Talking Heads

• "Slippery People" -Talking Heads > The Staple Singers

• "Radio Head" - Talking Heads > Tito Lariva > Radiohead

• "Warning Sign" - Talking Heads > Local Natives

• ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"

• "Wordy Rappinghood" - Tom Tom Club > Chicks On Speed


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Warning Sign" - Talking Heads > Local Natives

ROCK Sex says it happened before and it will happen again.

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One of the great producer and band partnerships in Rock is Brian Eno's collaborations with Talking Heads.

This song has a killer drum break by Chris Frantz, mesmeric bass by Tina Weymouth, and stellar guitar work by David Byrne.

Its paranoic edge and polyrhythmic dynamics embody their musical transition from The Velvet Underground toward Fela.

TALKING HEADS -"Warning Sign" (1978)



Talking Heads set the template for most every indie band for the next three decades, with their normal anti-style look and mercurial style shifts.


The British electronic group The Black Dog uses the drums in this reaction.

THE BLACK DOG -"Seer & Sages" (1990)



English songwriter Sophie Michalitsianos interpolates the song as a folky dream with TripHop textures.

SOL SEPPY -"Love Boy" (2006)



Here's another descendent, Local Natives, doing "Warning Sign" with a harmonic emphasis that would also please Beatle or Brian Wilson fans.

LOCAL NATIVES -"Warning Sign" (2010)



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Take Me To the River" - Al Green > Bryan Ferry > Talking Heads

• "Slippery People" -Talking Heads > The Staple Singers

• "Radio Head" - Talking Heads > Tito Lariva > Radiohead

• "Crosseyed And Painless" - Fela > Talking Heads > Brazilian Girls > Angelique Kidjo

• ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"

• "Wordy Rappinghood" - Tom Tom Club > Chicks On Speed


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: DOCTOR WHO Theme - Delia Derbyshire > Gary Glitter > KLF > Human League

ROCK Sex says "the Doctor is IN!".

Today, an "A + B = C" song chain, featuring the Doctor Who theme.

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One cool thing added to another another cool thing gives you a third cool thing. It's like Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, the color spectrum, and babies.

Ron Grainger may have composed the theme for "Doctor Who" on paper, but everyone knows it was Delia Derbyshire who performed her sonic wizardry in the BBC Radiophonic Workshop to make this Electronic classic what it is.

The true wielder of the sonic screwdriver is Delia.

DELIA DERBYSHIRE -"Doctor Who Theme" (1963)



As a flipside to his Glam Rock single "Rock'n'Roll", Gary Glitter did this epic instrumental. Long before it was massacred by your local sports event. (Gary made a handful of cool songs, but Gary himself...well, that's a sad story.)

GARY GLITTER -"Rock'n'Roll, Part 2" (1972)



And The KLF, under the alias The Timelords, combined the two in this dance club hit.

THE TIMELORDS/ KLF -"Doctorin' the Tardis" (12" version) (1988)


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The youth entranced in the '60s and '70s by Delia Derbyshire and the BBC radiophonic Workshop's eerie textural soundtracks grew up to become New Wave, EDM, and Industrial pioneers. Here's proof in what could have been an alternate theme for DOCTOR WHO, named after the Fourth Doctor himself.

THE HUMAN LEAGUE -"Tom Baker" (1980)





© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• How STAR WARS Is Changing Everything!

• 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY - Its Transcendent Influence on all Pop Culture, with Music Player!


• Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order


• "Delia Derbyshire - Sculptress of Sound" documentary
• "The Delian Mode - Delia Derbyshire" documentary


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "We Can Beat Them, Forever And Ever!" - Question Mark + Mysterians > Redbone > Bowie

ROCK Sex wants to "steal time, just for one day".

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Okay, you're going think I'm crazy on this one, but what's new?

File this in the "A + B = C" category.

Combine the surging sway of the rhythm section in this song...

QUESTION MARK And The MYSTERIANS -"96 Tears" (1966)



...with the rhythmic intro riff of this song...

REDBONE -"Come And Get Your Love" (1973)



...and see if you don't hear them in this song: that sing-song sway, and the riff in the guitar figure...

DAVID BOWIE -"Heroes" (1977)



Maybe it's just me.



© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Fame" - James Brown > David Bowie > James Brown

• "Brand New Cadillac" - Vince Taylor > The Clash > Ziggy Stardust

• "Ziggy Stardust" - David Bowie > Bauhaus

• "You Can't Hurry Love" - The Supremes > Iggy Pop > The Jam > David Bowie

• "Let's Dance" - David Bowie > George Clinton > Craig David

• "I CAN'T EXPLAIN" - The Who > David Bowie > The Clash > Fatboy Slim > The Hives

• "Ground Control to Major Tom" - THE LONELY ASTRONAUT Movies, with Music Player!


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Sex: "Take Me To the River" - Al Green > Bryan Ferry > Talking Heads

ROCK Sex takes you to the river and washes you down.

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Al Green had previously covered the song "Driving Wheel" by that fellow Memphis great, Junior Parker. When Parker passed away, Al dedicated his original composition "Take Me To the River" to his memory:

AL GREEN -"Take Me To the River" (1974)


Bryan Ferry, of Roxy Music, often covered soul songs he loved on his solo albums. In late '77 he recorded this homage to Green:

BRYAN FERRY -"Take Me To the River" (1978)


Meanwhile, by odd coincidence, his former partner in Roxy Music, Brian Eno, was producing Talking Heads' second album as they too covered Green's song. Though their version was recorded a few months after Ferry's it reached the market before his. To this day many people believe this to be their song.

TALKING HEADS -"Take Me To the River" (1978)




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• SHAKE AND FINGER POP! Soul Music and the Interior Truth, with Music Player!

• "Time Is Tight!" - Booker T > The Clash > Elvis Costello > Squeeze

• "I Thank You" - Sam And Dave > ZZ Top

• "Crosseyed And Painless" - Fela > Talking Heads > Brazilian Girls > Angelique Kidjo

• "Slippery People" -Talking Heads > The Staple Singers


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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