Stop Making Sense
1984 filmWikipedia
126
MENTIONS
27
EPISODES
25
PODCASTS
Search complete. 126 mentions across 27 episodes found for "Stop Making Sense".
Sep 11, 2026
Brian LloydPANELIST
This is a concert film.
Brian LloydPANELIST
This is in the same way that Stop Making Sense was, you know, The Last Waltz.
Brian LloydPANELIST
It's in that category.
Brian LloydPANELIST
It's very, very good.
Michael MackenzieHOST
Fantastic.
Michael MackenzieHOST
Which means, of course, we've had Stop Making Sense.
Michael MackenzieHOST
We've had American Utopia or just Utopia.
Michael MackenzieHOST
All filmed.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
Well, what happened was, um, we were being produced by, um, a big producer.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
At that time, he had just produced, um, Stop Making Sense, the, uh, David Byrne Talking Heads-
Tim DennisHOST
Yep
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
... movie, movie.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
And then he joined company with Tom Hanks, was Playtone, and they released Polar Express and all those movies.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
So that's him.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
He produced us, and then after that, um, he was getting involved in Silence of the Lambs with Jonathan Demme, who Jonathan Demme also directed Stop Making Sense, so that's how they met.
Christopher Saint BoothGUEST
So we went to another producer named George Tobin.
David HartsteinGUEST
that one.
David HartsteinGUEST
The other one I'll put up there is Stop Making Sense.
David HartsteinGUEST
Oh, cool.
David HartsteinGUEST
It blows me away.
Zan RoweHOST
You also really relish showing the audience how you do it.
Zan RoweHOST
You know, you literally did that with the brilliant 1984 concert film with Jonathan Demme, Stop Making Sense, where it's you on stage with Psycho Killer, with the boombox, and then building one player after the other to show how a show, a gig-
David ByrneGUEST
Mm-hmm
Zan RoweHOST
... comes to life.
Adam KempenaarHOST
First, Oasis, Don't Look Back in Anger, the new documentary out September 11th, which is the chronicle of the band's reunion, Josh, for their 2025 tour.
Adam KempenaarHOST
While that's coming out, that's also what was the inspiration for the recent Movie Death Match episode that we had in the Film Spotting feed pitting the two greatest concert films of all time against each other, Stop Making Sense and The Last Waltz.
Adam KempenaarHOST
So we thought, "Well, what's in the archive that's relevant to these movies?" And we thought about our Last Waltz episode, talked about it for its 45th anniversary in 2023.
Adam KempenaarHOST
As part of that show, we did our top five music documentaries.
speaker_1ADVERTISER
You're talking a lot, but you're not saying anything.
Adam KempenaarHOST
Let's get into this week's topic, Josh.
Adam KempenaarHOST
With The Last Waltz and Robbie Robertson's unfortunate passing, and of course, as we mentioned, Stop Making Sense returning to theaters, we thought it was time to share our top five music documentaries.
Adam KempenaarHOST
We did consider at first maybe just doing specifically concert films like The Last Waltz, like Stop Making Sense.
EllaHOST
And then she storms off, which is fair.
EllaHOST
Stop making sense.
EllaHOST
Whatever.
EllaHOST
And then she goes and watches Stop Making Sense.
EllaHOST
And she calms down.
EllaHOST
She feels better.
Perla BatallaGUEST
It was very sweet.
Chris SlusarenkoHOST
I did like that, that's funny, it's in my notes here, whenever they had somebody leave the stage and they gave the time to see them exit, It's something that I always loved, like Stop Making Sense or The Last Waltz or things where you see, you get some time to see the space of the stage.
Chris SlusarenkoHOST
You get to see, oh, I didn't know that there was somebody back there sitting in the wing.
Chris SlusarenkoHOST
You start putting the puzzle together.
Chris KlimekHOST
Thank you, Stephen, for being here.
Chris KlimekHOST
Representing 1984's Stop Making Sense, starring Talking Heads and directed by future Academy Award winner Jonathan Demme, hailing from Los Angeles, California, she is the author of two volumes of poetry, Nights I Let the Tiger Get You and All the Emergency Type Structures.
Chris KlimekHOST
She is also a teacher and an editor with the essential online film journal Bright Wall/Dark Room, and a regular on the Bright Wall/Dark Room podcast.
Chris KlimekHOST
She is Elizabeth Cantwell.
Elizabeth CantwellGUEST
[laughs]
Chris KlimekHOST
As I...
Chris KlimekHOST
I, I know this because I read your wonderful essay for Bright Wall/Dark Room's Jonathan Demme issue about Stop Making Sense and existential philosophy called You Must Imagine Talking Heads Happy.
Chris KlimekHOST
We will, we will link to that in show notes.
Mick SmithHOST
It established that a concert film could be both entertainment and historical document that the audience's experience was as important as the performers and that technical innovation, the split screens, the careful editing, the sound mixing could enhance rather than distract from the music.
Mick SmithHOST
Every major concert film that followed, from The Last Waltz to Stop Making Sense, exists in Woodstock's shadow.
Mick SmithHOST
Directors learned that you could be artistic and documentary at the same time, that style and substance didn't have to conflict.
Mick SmithHOST
In conclusion, Woodstock succeeded both as a time capsule of a specific historical moment and as an artistic achievement that demonstrated how thoughtful filmmaking could elevate concert footage into something approaching cinema, establishing standards and techniques that define the genre for generations.
18 MINS LATER
Daniel LicusHOST
mr mike we talk about content but what about filmmaking graph how we direct tours use technical innovation to enhance music documentaries
Mick SmithHOST
This is where music documentaries become genuinely exciting as cinema rather than just as historical records.
Mick SmithHOST
Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense documenting Talking Heads 1983 tour is probably the gold standard for how technical mastery can elevate concert footage into art.
Mick SmithHOST
Demi makes bold choices from the opening frame.
17 more episodes mention Stop Making Sense.
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