David Byrne was undoubtedly the heart and soul of The Talking Heads, but it was a song he wrote with friends Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth for his former band, The Artistic, that earned him the most scorn from the public and still does. . since it is one of the few songs of the band that is still performed live.
One of the first songs the trio recorded for their first Lp, 77 (Sire Records), was Psycho Killer, but it didn't seem like it was going to become their biggest hit. They claimed that he had not been inspired by anyone, but the coincidence of his timing with the serial killer Son of Sam gave him publicity in the local media.
Although most of the bands that would later become part of New Wave had not yet formed when the song was performed at CBGB in 1975, it is a New Wave classic and describes the thoughts of a psychopath.
Talking Heads was a band made up of independent thinkers. Immersed in the chaos of punk, they supported the Ramones by opening for the first time, but their sound had nothing to do with the band's. Terms such as no wave, new wave and art-rock were later defined.
They claim that Seymour Stein, the man behind Sire Records and the man who signed bands like the Ramones, Dead Boys, Undertones, Talking Heads, Madonna and The Smiths, among others, had been considering the new wave as a creator for some time. David Byrne brought the connection to creativity, imagination and film, as well as his open mind throughout his career, collaborations and general understanding that his music had to move forward with him.