Little Creatures

Little Creatures
Studio album by Talking Heads
Released June 10, 1985
Recorded October 1984 – March 1985
Studio Sigma Sound Studios in Manhattan
Genre New wave, pop[1]
Length 38:38
Label Warner Bros./Sire (US/Canada)
EMI (UK/Europe)
Producer Talking Heads
Talking Heads chronology
Stop Making Sense
(1984)Stop Making Sense1984		 Little Creatures
(1985)		 True Stories
(1986)True Stories1986
Singles from Little Creatures
  1. "The Lady Don't Mind"
    Released: 1985
  2. "Road to Nowhere"
    Released: September 1985
  3. "And She Was"
    Released: 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[3]
Hot Press11/12[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[5]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[6]
The Village VoiceA[7]

Little Creatures is the sixth studio album by American new wave band Talking Heads, released in June 1985. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many of the songs featuring steel guitar. It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll and is the band's biggest-selling studio album, with over two million copies sold in the US.

The cover art was created by outsider artist Howard Finster, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone magazine.

In 2005, it was remastered and re-released by Warner Music Group on their Warner Bros./Sire Records/Rhino Records labels in DualDisc format, with three bonus tracks on the CD side (early versions of "Road To Nowhere" and "And She Was" and an extended mix of "Television Man"). The DVD-Audio side includes both stereo and 5.1 surround high resolution (96 kHz/24bit) mixes, as well as a Dolby Digital version and the videos of "And She Was" and "Road to Nowhere." In Europe, it was released as a CD+DVDA two disc set rather than a single DualDisc. The reissue was produced by Andy Zax with Talking Heads.

Track listing

All tracks written by David Byrne, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."And She Was" 3:36
2."Give Me Back My Name"Byrne, Chris Frantz, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth3:20
3."Creatures of Love" 4:12
4."The Lady Don't Mind"Byrne, Frantz, Harrison, Weymouth4:03
5."Perfect World"Byrne, Frantz4:26
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Stay Up Late"3:51
7."Walk It Down"4:42
8."Television Man"6:10
9."Road to Nowhere"4:19
1985 UK CD Bonus Track
No.TitleLength
10."The Lady Don't Mind" (Extended Mix)6:51
2005 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Road to Nowhere" (Early version)4:37
11."And She Was" (Early version)3:36
12."Television Man" (Extended mix)7:52

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional musicians

  • Ellen Bernfeld – backing vocals on "Perfect World" and "Walk It Down"
  • Andrew Cader – washboard on "Road to Nowhere"
  • Erin Dickens – backing vocals on "Television Man" and "Road to Nowhere"
  • Diva Gray – backing vocals on "Road to Nowhere"
  • Gordon Grody – backing vocals
  • Lani Groves – backing vocals
  • Jimmy Macdonell – accordion on "Road to Nowhere"
  • Lenny Pickett – saxophones
  • Steve Scales – percussion
  • Naná Vasconcelos – percussion on "Perfect World"
  • Eric Weissberg – steel guitar on "Creatures of Love" and "Walk It Down"
  • Kurt Yahijian – backing vocals

Recording

  • Jack Skinner – mastering
  • Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing
  • Melanie West – second engineer

Charts

Singles

Year Song Peak
US UK AU
1985 "The Lady Don't Mind" — 81 24
"Road To Nowhere" 105 6 16
"And She Was" 54 17 10

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/Sales
Germany (BVMI)[21] Gold 250,000^
United States (RIAA)[22] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Gold 100,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 Ruhlmann, William. "Little Creatures – Talking Heads". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  2. ↑ Kot, Greg (May 6, 1990). "Talking Heads On The Record". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  4. ↑ Stokes, Dermot (July 5, 1985). "Little Creatures". Hot Press. Archived from the original on February 21, 2002. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  5. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Talking Heads". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 802–03. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  6. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 394. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  7. ↑ Christgau, Robert (July 30, 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  8. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "RPM Canadian Charts". Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures". charts.de. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  12. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  13. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures'". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  14. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures'". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  15. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures'". swisscharts.com. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  16. ↑ "Talking Heads – Little Creatures'". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  17. ↑ "Billboard 200 August 3, 1985". Billboard.
  18. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1985". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  19. ↑ "The Official New Zealand Music Charts: End of Year Charts – 1985". Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  20. ↑ "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – 1986". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  21. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Talking Heads; 'Little creatures')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  22. ↑ "American album certifications – Talking Heads – Little creatures". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH. 
  23. ↑ "British album certifications – Talking Heads – Little creatures". British Phonographic Industry. Select albums in the Format field. Select Gold in the Certification field. Type Little creatures in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
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