Bringing the "Genius of Love" to a new generation

Tom Tom Club’s Tina Weymouth reflects on 30 years of musical innovation

By Eleanor Whitney
Published: November 16th, 2010 | 7:00am

Bassist, vocalist, and producer Tina Weymouth is a trailblazer for any woman who wants to rock. While she’s best known as the bassist for the seminal experimental rock group the Talking Heads, it was her band Tom Tom Club that achieved a gold hit with “Genius of Love” in 1982. While they may not be a household name to the new generation of music lovers, their music has been sampled and re-imagined by artists from Mariah Carey to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. With their 30th anniversary approaching, the duo has released Genius of Live (Nacional), recorded—you guessed it—live in their home studio. In celebration of the milestone in the band’s career and the new release, Weymouth dished on the past and present of the legendary band.

Tom Tom Club began when Weymouth and her husband, Chris Frantz (drummer for the Talking Heads), decided that “a drummer and a bassist were perfectly capable of coming up with an album. … We wanted something completely different [from Talking Heads],” Weymouth explains. “Something with dance music, a European sensibility. A different approach from macho rock guitar.”

Working on “Genius of Love” in Jamaica between Talking Heads tours, the couple found themselves in the studio next to Grace Jones, who was there recording her classic album, Nightclubbing (Island). They took advantage of their fortuitous location and invited Jones’ musicians to add additional musical textures to their bass, keyboard, and drum tracks.

In pursuit of a particular vocal sound and lacking confidence in her singing, Weymouth invited her sisters Lani and Laura to record with her after previously leading her siblings in singing traditional American folk songs when they were younger. “I had always loved the Everly Brothers and the Beach Boys—[that] vocal blend of siblings. I wanted to achieve something akin to that,” says Weymouth.

Released by Sire in the U.S. in late ’81, Weymouth recalls the moment she learned the record went gold. “We were driving in a taxi with David [Byrne] and our manager and he said, ‘I have good news for you. Tom Tom Club went gold today!’”

After their initial success, Weymouth and guitarist Monte Browne (one of Grace Jones’ musicians) continued to play in both of their bands, as well as produce records. Tom Tom Club’s current lineup includes vocalist Victoria Clamp, who Weymouth describes as her “chosen sister,” keyboardist Bruce Martin, guitarist Fuzz, and Kid Ginseng on turn tables. After 30 years, she says she still gets nervous playing live. “When I get out there I get really scared, but I feel so supported by these people who are better musicians than me, yet are singing and playing our songs. It’s a miracle to me.”

As producers, she and Frantz have worked with Grammy winners Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, as well as members of INXS, the Happy Mondays and Buenos Aires-based rock band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs. “Artists are a funny people group of people, but Chris and I have tried to remain as normal as possible,” Weymouth says about working with such an eclectic pool of musicians. “It enriches one’s life to be well-rounded and not get too narrow socially or artistically.”

She also says music has strengthened her marriage. “I’ve had a lot of couples come up to me and say, ‘We were married for 10 years before we started a band together and it’s made our marriage better,’ and I think it’s true. Through music you understand each other and know what each other are going through.”

“Don’t smoke, take care of your body, and you might live longer than you expected,” Weymouth advises other aspiring female musicians and producers. “I don’t presume to tell these young people coming up anything. Stick to your guns and everything else will follow. If you do something you believe in deeply, there’s no reason you shouldn’t succeed—even if it takes a long time.”

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Tom Tom Club official site

Nacional Records