Bob Dylan is apparently too old and too famous to hold his tongue these days, as evidenced by some of the lines in his recent book The Philosophy of Modern Song. Notably, Chris Frantz took offense to a passage where Dylan opined that Elvis Costello and The Attractions were better than “any of their contemporaries,” a subtle dig at the comparable band Frantz co-founded, Talking Heads.
The quote in question was part of the second essay in Dylan’s book, about Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ 1978 tune “Pump It Up.” He wrote: “Elvis Costello and the Attractions were a better band than any of their contemporaries. Light years better.” Considering that song came out the year after Talking Heads first cracked the Hot 100 with “Psycho Killer,” Frantz is pretty safe in his assumption that Dylan wasn’t too wild about them.
“I love Bob Dylan’s new book The Philosophy Of Modern Song,” Frantz wrote on Facebook last Friday. “But I have one little bone to pick with the author when he writes ‘Elvis Costello and The Attractions were a better band than any of their contemporaries. Light years better.’ With all due respect to the Attractions and to drummer Pete Thomas in particular, I’d like to say to Bob something he once said to a buddy of mine. ‘Suck a dick.’”
But Dylan might’ve contradicted himself — or, he was just saving face back in the day, as Rolling Stone points out in an interview with Frantz published yesterday. Not only did the drummer recall “Mr. Tambourine Man” having attended a Talking Heads concert in St. Paul in the ’80s, but Frantz also remembers inviting the Heads to a party at his house afterwards.
That party was not without its awkwardness, however: “We said [to the invitation], ‘Great!’” Frantz said. “They gave us directions to a house somewhere in the suburbs of Minneapolis. This is before GPS, so it took us a while to find it. We knocked and this woman came to the door and said, ‘Hello?’ We said, “Bob invited us to come. We’re Talking Heads.’ And she said, ‘Oh, Bob’s already gone to bed.’”
Frantz went on: “I’m not trying to pit the Heads against any of the bands of that era. There were so many good bands then, and I spent many nights at CBGB and saw a lot of superior performances. But I would say to Bob, ‘How can you make such a sweeping generalization?’ I think it’s a very good book — despite that one chapter.”
So, are the times a-changin’, or are they the same as they ever was? Guess we’ll never know. See Frantz’s Facebook post below.
Next year, Heads keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison and touring guitarist Adrian Belew will embark on the “Remain in Light Tour,” in honor of one of the greatest albums of all time; get tickets here.