This might seem like something of an obvious choice, and indeed it is, but where do you go from Talking Heads? I could have gone with Brian Eno as a link into other artists, but I've misplaced my one Brian Eno vinyl album (indeed, I might have loaned it to someone). So it falls on Adrian Belew to link us into King Crimson, and I've plumped for my copy of their 1982 album Beat:
After disbanding in the mid-70s, KC reformed for a trilogy of three similar-sounding and similarly-packaged albums beginning with Discipline (1981), continuing with Beat, and concluding with Three of a Perfect Pair (1984). Their minimalist sleeves are respectively red, blue and yellow. Love these albums or loathe them (and they had plenty of detractors) they are what I'd call the nearest thing to a post-punk, New Wave, Talking Heads-ish kind of KC sound. All three records have some reasonably catchy and "normal" songs on them, but all three also have a more than ample share of experimental art-rock which at times only barely qualifies as music. Needless to say I am very fond of them. I bought them in reverse order, as it happens, and Beat was purchased from a Newcastle record shop in the Autumn of 1985. Adrian Belew's great weird squealing guitar sounds are all over this recording and his voice is very David Byrne-like. Bill Bruford plays drums. Tony Levin is on bass and Robert Fripp, of course, is also on guitar.
I didn't have a record player when I was away from home as a student, so my procedure after any vinyl purchase was to persuade someone else with a turntable to make me a tape which I could then listen to until I was back home. I remember that the usual candidate was a very big fan of both Madonna and Bauhaus and was not at all impressed by King Crimson, but he kindly put up with my requests. My vinyl copy is still in excellent nick and plays flawlessly.
KC went on a long hiatus after this trilogy of records and I must confess I've never quite connected in the same degree to the more recent stuff, although I did see the band perform in Cardiff a few years ago.
https://www.justgiving.com/page/alastair-reynolds-1713971449990
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