Talking Heads Release Three-Disc Set With Early Demos and Live Recordings From 1974-1977

Talking Heads will drop a three-CD collection titled Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live on Mar. 6 through Rhino Records. The package brings together 15 demos cut for CBS Records in September 1975 and more than a dozen live recordings from 1976 and 1977.

The collection will trace how the original trio of David Byrne, Chris Frantz, and Tina Weymouth grew before keyboardist Jerry Harrison came on board in March 1977. It will build on an 11-song vinyl release from Record Store Day Black Friday 2025, adding 32 tracks across three discs.

A CBS demo of "Love Goes to a Building on Fire" is available now. The September 1975 session at CBS Studios didn't lead to a recording contract, but it captured versions of songs that showed up on the group's first two albums.

According to Far Out Magazine, a press release from the band stated that the set "Uncovers a cache of live recordings from 1976 and 1977, capturing the band at key moments.” It continued, “The October 1976 performance at Max's Kansas City took place just a few weeks before the group met with Seymour Stein and signed to Sire Records. A few months later, the January 1977 show at The Jabberwocky Club in Syracuse would be among the last by the original trio before Jerry Harrison joined in March.”

The collection also has 1974 recordings from The Artistics, a group Chris Frantz and David Byrne put together at the Rhode Island School of Design. Those tracks, recorded at Chris Frantz's apartment in Providence, represent the earliest known versions of "Psycho Killer" and "Warning Sign." 

A black vinyl edition will also be available on Mar. 6, featuring 10 early demos and a live track from the Ocean Club in 1976, plus a 7-inch single with The Artistics recordings. The release will continue a series of archival projects kicked off during the band's 50th anniversary celebration.