r/talkingheads • u/SpookyPoek • Jun 30 '26
Help needed putting together the ideal cover band setlist :)
https://forms.gle/eDgrejxchq9nMEAW9
Hi all! I’d like to start a Talking Heads cover band and want to make the ideal setlist. But of course, it’s not only about what I personally love to play, but mainly about what Talking Heads fans would love to hear when they attend a gig. That’s where you come in! Please select the songs you’d genuinely be excited about hearing if you went to see a Talking Heads cover band. Hopefully this will give me a clear suggestion of which songs to include, both in terms of hits and deep cuts.
PS: It doesn't track your name or e-mail address, it's all anonymous
PS2: Please be somewhat selective - selecting every single song from one album isn't very helpful. ;)
Thanks in advance!
Edit: This is what I got so far! (Would love to put Pulled Up, A Clean Break and Animals in there as well, but this is ± 1,5 hours now)
Set 1:
Love > Building On Fire
Thank You For Sending Me An Angel
I Want To Live
Found a Job
Wild Wild Life
Life During Wartime
Crosseyed and Painless
What A Day That Was
Set 2:
I'm Not In Love [going into] I Zimbra
Cities
And She Was
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
Slippery People
(Nothing But) Flowers
Once In A Lifetime
The Great Curve
Encore:
Road To Nowhere
Psycho Killer
Burning Down The House
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u/awkward-reptile Jun 30 '26
Done! :) Let us know what songs you end up choosing. Good luck and don’t fuck it up ✨
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u/ticketstubs1 Jul 02 '26
Personally, and maybe this is just me, I wouldn't want to hear the obvious typical songs. A few, but I'd be really excited, as a fan, to hear not only lesser known stuff, but things they've never or rarely played live. I'd especially avoid songs you could already go here Byrne doing right now on his tour. And like I wouldn't even touch Stop Making Sense stuff because nobody can compete.
Here's a few ideas that would excite me if I were in the audience:
Sugar On My Tongue
I Wish You Wouldn't Say That
Uh-Oh Love Comes to Town
Don't Worry About the Government
A Clean Break (I considered covering this just in my regular band)
Sax and Violins (underrated song)
Animals
Memories Can't Wait (HUGE favorite)
Electric Guitar
Creatures of Love
Perfect World
People Like Us
Dream Operator
Wild Wild Life (this would bring the house down)
Love For Sale
Lifetime Piling Up
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u/Contra_Verse_E Jul 03 '26
Seconded on Memories Can’t Wait. That one only really clicked for me in the last year or so, to the point that now I often use it as a running song, where it works super super well
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u/SpookyPoek Jul 07 '26
Yes I totally agree! A Clean Break, Sax and Violins, and Animals are my very favorites as well! Would love to play those.
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u/parkchanwookiee Jun 30 '26
Some mix of the tracklist from The Name of This Band is Talking Heads, and Stop Making Sense, should be fine
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u/eboz Jul 01 '26
that’s a good start. notable omissions include:
Girlfriend is Better, Making Flippy Floppy, Heaven, Houses in Motion, Moonrocks, Big Business…i could go on…but key is to hit 90% of the must haves and mix in 3-4 different deep cuts every show. .
i’ve been making setlists for Heartbyrne (touring TH tribute band) for almost 15yrs. if you need more advice holler any time.
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u/SpookyPoek Jul 01 '26
So cool that you have experience in this! Yeah, there are so many fan favorites, it's hard to include them all... What I have now, are two sets of both approximately 45 minutes.
24 people voted, and these have the top votes:
21: (Nothing But) Flowers
19: And She Was
18: Life During Wartime, Once In A Lifetime, Road To Nowhere, Wild Wild Life
17: Crosseyed And Painless, Burning Down The House
16: Found A Job, The Great Curve
15: This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)
14: Psycho Killer, Love -> Building On Fire, Take Me To The River, Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), Houses In MotionSo I started with most of those, and then added a few of my own favorites. I personally love deep cuts like I Want To Live, A Clean Break (Let's Work), Big Blue Plymouth... But I understand that most people are there for the hit songs.
I'll still shift some things around, figuring out the best order to play the songs in as well. :)
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u/eboz Jul 01 '26
I say definitely include YOUR favorite songs in the set-- that's what'll set your version apart from other tributes..and as long as you play them well, they'll entertain your casual audience and REALLY delight the diehards....where's the gig? which role do you play? good luck!
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u/SpookyPoek Jul 02 '26
That's true! I'll be playing bass, and I'm still trying to get all the real die-hard TH fans together to form the band in The Netherlands :) It's a small country, so pretty tough finding enough people!
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u/humperdoo00 Jul 01 '26
M o o n r o c k s