Talking Heads members David Byrne and Chris Frantz formed a precursor band called the Artistics while students at the Rhode Island School of Design in 1973. A newly available demo recording from that era, featuring early versions of songs like "Psycho Killer," will be released as part of a special vinyl compilation on Record Store Day Black Friday. The release highlights the band's punk-influenced origins before they moved to New York and formed Talking Heads with bassist Tina Weymouth.
In 1973, David Byrne and Chris Frantz, students at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), started the Artistics, a short-lived band that captured punk-like sounds on a reel-to-reel recorder in Frantz's Benefit Street apartment. The group disbanded quickly after Byrne and Frantz relocated to New York City, where they recruited Tina Weymouth to create Talking Heads.
Fifty-two years later, an archival tape of the Artistics' material is emerging from obscurity. The RISD Archives obtained the recording from the RISD Museum in 2023, which had acquired it 18 years prior for its Prints, Drawings and Photographs department. The tape contains the earliest known versions of "Psycho Killer" and "Warning Sign," along with other tracks from 1974.
Recently loaned to Frantz and Weymouth for copying and remastering, the material forms the basis of Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live, a new compilation. This Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive, set for release on November 28, includes the 1974 Artistics demos plus 11 additional demo and live tracks from the original Talking Heads trio recorded in 1975 and 1976. The vinyl pressing comes with a 7-inch single of "Psycho Killer" and "Warning Sign" (listed as "Warnin' Sign"), while another track, "Spin Spin," remains unreleased.
The RISD Library expressed excitement on Instagram: "We are so thrilled to have such a special piece of music history in our collections and love how the new release project visually reflects the look of the housing for the original recording." It added, "This collection for Record Store Day Black Friday includes the Artistics material from 1974 alongside 11 additional demo and live tracks recorded by the original trio lineup of the band (Bassist Tina Weymouth alongside Frantz and Byrne) in 1975 and 1976."
This release offers fans a rare glimpse into Talking Heads' formative years, bridging their art-school roots to their influential post-punk career.