BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1985
Re-Rip Newly Remastered!
Originally I posted this one on September 28, 2010. But for those who may have missed it or if you are a new reader just discovering BTG. I decided to give this one a new rip with my newer Ortofon Super 30 stylus. This 12? is also being posted in 24 bit flac for the very first time!
“Road to Nowhere” is a song by Talking Heads, from the 1985 album Little Creatures. It also appeared on Best of Talking Heads, Sand in the Vaseline: Popular Favorites, the Once in a Lifetime box set and the Brick box set. The song was released as a single in 1985 and reached number 25 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 6 in the British and German singles chart. It also made #8 on the Dutch Top 40.
The video, released to promote the single, was directed by David Byrne and Stephen R. Johnson and features the band and various objects revolving, as if in their own “road to nowhere,” and it was nominated for “Best Video of the Year” at the MTV Video Music Awards 1986.
According to the sleeve of Talking Heads compilation Once in a Lifetime, Byrne added the choral intro after deciding the song in itself was embarrassingly simplistic and monotonous.
“Road to Nowhere” is heard during the ending of the 1985 movie The Peanut Butter Solution and the 1989 film Little Monsters. It is also featured in the 1994 film Reality Bites. It was featured on an advertisement for the 2006 final of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. It is also heard at the end of the 2008 film Religulous.
SIDE A:
Road To Nowhere 4:19
Recorded By, Mixed By – G. T. Thorngren*
SIDE B:
Television Man (Extended Mix) 8:00
Remix – G. T. Thorngren*, Jerry Harrison
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
CHART HISTORY:
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Road To Nowhere | U.S. Billboard Bubbling Under Hot 100 | #105 |
| 1985 | Road To Nowhere | U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | #25 |
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI – 12EMI 5530
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 45 RPM
Country: UK
Released: 1985
Genre: Electronic
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
Credits: Design [Graphic Design] – M&Co.
Music By – Chris Frantz, David Byrne, Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth
Painting [Cover Painting] – Howard Finster*
Producer – Talking Heads
Written-By, Lyrics By – David Byrne
NOTES
From The EMI album “LITTLR CREATURES”.
Find The 12″ On DISCOGS
EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut III
Cartridge: Ortofon Super
Stylus: Ortofon OM Stylus 30
Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Pro-Ject Speed Box S
Bellari VP130 Tube Phono Preamp
Soundcard: ESI Juli@
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Brother MFC-6490CW Professional Series Scanner
SOFTWARE USED:
Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Adobe Photoshop CS5
ClickRepair
dBpoweramp
Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
Downsampled to 24bit/96kHz and16bit /44kHz using iZotope RX Advanced 2
FLAC (Level Eight)
MP3 (320kbps)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Hello, Paul.
Someday, when enough fans request this old favorite again, and you have the time, I do hope you’ll consider reposting this rip/scans in all its glory 🙂
Cheers!
Fantastic Paul, really appreciate what you do. Do you have the 12″ of ‘I Zimbra (Brian Eno Mix)’? That would be fantastic.
When I was a senior in high school in 1986, we had to vote for our “class song” and the 5 options to choose from were all sappy tracks like “The Greatest Love Of All,” etc. Someone had the brilliant idea that we do a write-in of “Road To Nowhere,” and amateur nihilists that we were, everyone I knew wrote it in at the bottom of their ballots. Rumor had it that “Road To Nowhere” won hands down, but come prom time, everyone had to dance to Corey Hart’s long-forgotten “Never Surrender” instead.
This road takes me to this fantastic burning ground.
Thanks a lot for this bro-have a nice weekend(;
David Byrne’s one of those people I can admire, and see as a real original, and an artist in the truest sense of the word, but sadly I can’t bear most of his musical output. I do remember taping this off my mate BITD though. 😀 I skipped through his film True Stories the other week, have you seen that? Think I’ll give it a proper watch one day. Also, just so I can mention Fun Boy Three two days on the trot, did you know Byrne produced their 2nd album, Waiting, which has become one of my favourites of… Read more »
Yeah David Byrne is an acquired taste. Love this song though. Sad they never made an extended mix of “Road To Nowhere”. Dis not know about the Fun Boy Three Byrne connection very interseting. True Stories must have slipped past me guess I just never found it interesting enough to watch 🙂
Yeah, I only found out the FB3 connection whilst watching their video for The More That I See (The Less I Believe) where he pops up as a weatherman (he produced the video too).
Think True Stories Can still hold interest today because of John Goodman (1st main role before he was famous). Of the clips I saw, I loved the general ‘outhereness’ of it. It’s not weird, just not conentional, bit David Lynch.
It would surprise me if there wasn’t an “Ultrasound” “extended” edit of this floating out there, but yeah, I’ve never seen any official remix released. I wonder if TH, or David alone, personally nixed that idea.
Another great track cheers paul
Thank you Dazz22 🙂