Slippery People
| "Slippery People" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Talking Heads | ||||
| from the album Stop Making Sense | ||||
| B-side | "This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) (Live)" | |||
| Released | October 1984 | |||
| Recorded | December 1983 | |||
| Venue | Hollywood Pantages Theatre | |||
| Genre | New wave, funk | |||
| Length | 5:07 | |||
| Label | Sire | |||
| Songwriter | David Byrne | |||
| Producer | Talking Heads | |||
| Talking Heads singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Slippery People" is a song by American rock band Talking Heads. It originally appeared on the band's fifth studio album Speaking in Tongues (1983). A live version of the song from the concert film Stop Making Sense was released as a single in October 1984 and became a hit in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Background
[edit]In the liner notes for the band's greatest hits album Once in a Lifetime: The Best of Talking Heads (1992), drummer Chris Frantz wrote: "When this song was originally recorded on Speaking in Tongues, it had a funky and compact sound. This Stop Making Sense version is funky and big as a house (or should I say church?)"[1]
The studio version of "Slippery People" was never released as a single, but a live version from Stop Making Sense was released as the lead single from that album. In this performance, Byrne plays a Roland G-303 guitar synthesizer.[2]
"Slippery People" was also covered by The Staple Singers in 1984. Byrne plays the guitar on this version. Mavis Staples said that, "David’s inspiration was seeing people in church, and that’s what I connected with. My head went off into the Bible." Their cover peaked at No. 22 on the Hot Black Singles chart.[3]
Charts
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Weekly charts[edit]
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Year-end charts[edit]
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References
[edit]- ↑ Zimmerman, Lee (2024-09-11). "Found a Job: Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense at 40". Rock and Roll Globe. Retrieved 2026-09-21.
- ↑ Venutti, Isabella (2023-03-24). "Gear Rundown: Talking Heads' Speaking In Tongues". Mixdown Magazine. Retrieved 2026-09-21.
- ↑ Hall, Oliver (2015-07-07). "When the Staple Singers covered Talking Heads on Soul Train". dangerousminds.net. Retrieved 2026-09-21.
- ↑ "Talking Heads – Slippery People (Live)" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ↑ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 15, 1985" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ↑ "Talking Heads – Slippery People (Live)" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ↑ "Official Singles Chart on 10/11/1985 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ↑ "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1985". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 25 September 2021.
- ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1983" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 May 2014.