Talking Heads: “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)” The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ their ‘Remain In Light’ tour

 

Alan Bershaw

Here’s “Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On),” one of the greatest and most danceable government paranoia songs, shot live on stage at The Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ during Talking Heads ‘Remain In Light’ tour 45 years ago. 

What really knocks me out about this song, and this performance of it in particular, is the extremely original bass playing of Tina Weymouth. Until this footage surfaced, I mistakenly thought that the propulsive bassline that is prominent right from the start of this song was the other bass player in this configuration of the group, Busta Jones (who does get a cool solo later in the song), but it is unquestionably Tina’s bass playing that's propelling this sizzling performance. 

I’ve been fortunate to work with several verified master and first generation tape transfers of this particular show over the years. The best sources are the transfer in the Reelin’ In The Years Archive (the source of “Crosseyed And Painless” on the band’s Chronology DVD release) and the transfer from the Metropolitan Archive (the source of the Wolfgang’s Vault version of this show). Both of those master transfers are very well done, but despite a few flaws, I’ve found that this first generation Beta tape transfer sourced from another private archive easily rivals them and may have held up a little better in terms of video contrast and audio.

Give it a listen and watch what Tina is doing here, as it really is an astounding example of her bass playing, not to mention Talking Heads at this pivotal moment of transition into a much bigger band.

Personnel is:

David Byrne - guitar, lead vocals

Jerry Harrison - guitar

Tina Weymouth - bass

Chris Frantz -drums

Adrian Belew - lead guitar, vocals

Busta Jones - bass

Bernie Worrell - keyboards

Dolette McDonald - vocals, hand percussion

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