I am really enjoying reading David Byrne's book on the history and technology behind modern music. One of the interesting things so far has been how he changed his style in order to change how his act would be perceived. He grew out of 'outrageous' glam- rock outfits early and went preppy:
"In the nineties, preppy was adopted as a hip hop look, but back then it smacked of WASP elitism and privilege, which wasn't very rock and roll. That wasn't my background but I was fascinated by the fact that the old guard movers and shakers of the United States had an actual look (with approved brands). And despite their wealth, the clothing choices made by ye olde masters of the universe weren't super flattering! They could afford to pay for flattering clothes but they opted for house dresses and schlubby suits. What's the story here?"
When that wore off he bought a cheap polyester suit to try and look as neutral as possible, before settling on black jeans and t shirts - for a while.I think it is interesting that he decided his talent and ideas were strong enough that he would want to dress neutral and give no clues that he and the Talking Heads were different before they started playing. Is expressing ourselves through clothing really as creative as we think?
Just to prove Byrne can be stylish, here Here is looking like an old, dapper David Lynch in a video from his new album with St Vincent.
David Byrne / St Vincent "WHO" from martin de thurah on Vimeo.
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