You’re the bassist and the drummer of an influential new wave band? Whatcha gonna do when you’re on an extended vacation and you still have the urge to make music?
They’re gonna have some fun.
Not to say Talking Heads music wasn’t fun before, but prior to Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth breaking off temporarily to form Tom Tom Club, it was kind of stiff. “Genius of Love” is what a Heads record would sound like after a couple of spliffs. Loosey-goosey and effortless, the song’s rubbery groove is irresistible. Shouting out Hamilton Bohannon, Smokey Robinson and James Brown while giving props to the then-growing hip-hop sound (as well as a nod to reggae), it appealed to those graffiti drawing kids as well as the downtown arty types in similar fashion to Blondie’s “Rapture” (which you’ll find a few places back on this list).
There’s a small percentage of folks who probably now know this from Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy”, which samples it heavily, but like most sampled cuts, ain’t nothin’ like the original.
The video is awesome as well.
