Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth describes David Byrne as “insecure”

Chris Frantz Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein was indisputably one of the greatest music executives of all time, with a career that spanned six decades and a rare ear for talent that led Madonna, Talking Heads, Lou Reed, Ice-T, Depeche Mode, the Pretenders, the Smiths, and many others to his label. Stein, who died on April 2 at the age of 80, is remembered here by Chris Frantz, drummer of Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, who, with Tina Weymouth (now his wife), Jerry Harrison and of course David Byrne, signed with the label late in 1976.  Seymour told this story many times. His first visit to CBGB’s on the Bowery was to see the Ramones. His wife Linda insisted that he see them because they were something new and fabulous and she thought he should sign them, which he did. He was standing outside the club on the sidewalk speaking with [Patti Smith’s longtime guitarist] Lenny Kaye, waiting for Ramones to go on when he heard the support band begin to play. “When my love stands next to your love….”

The long-rumored Harry Potter TV series for HBO Max is on track to clear the biggest hurdle in its path to the screen, a deal with the books’ author JK Rowling who has creative control over any adaptation of her work.

Seymour Stein, the founder of Sire Records who launched the recording careers of Madonna, the Ramones, Talking Heads and the Pretenders, died Sunday of cancer in Los Angeles. He was 80.

Chris Morris Music ReporterSeymour Stein, whose Sire Records launched Madonna’s career and signed such early punk rock and new wave icons as the Ramones and Talking Heads, has died, a spokesperson for his family has confirmed to Variety. The cause of death was not immediately clear, although he had been in unsteady health for several years. He was 80. Though Stein’s imprint, which he co-founded in New York in 1966, enjoyed major-label distribution, he approached the record business with an independent’s zeal, and took a multitude of risks on unproven, often underground talent that paid off on the charts. Depeche Mode, Ice-T, Lou Reed, the Pretenders, the Smiths, the Cure, Seal, the Replacements, Aphex Twin and many more artists released some of their greatest music on Sire, whether via a direct signing or a licensing deal. A well-curated mixtape of Sire releases from the ‘80s and ‘90s is like the soundtrack to an era.

He’s in a New York state of mind. When it comes to dining, there’s no greater place than New York City.

Talia Mar is taking being a pop star seriously. So seriously, in fact, that she's already studied (and is emulating) the greats.

EXCLUSIVE: Filming has begun on location in Italy and Morocco on virus thriller Cold Storage with Smile star Sosie Bacon joining Joe Keery (Stranger Things), Liam Neeson (Taken) and Georgina Campbell (Barbarian). The Crown star and Oscar nominee Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread) is in final talks to join.

EXCLUSIVE: Peacock is developing drama series Queen of Flow, a premium adaptation of Caracol Television’s Colombian telenovela, La Reina Del Flow. Jorge Reyes is attached to pen the script for the project, fromWestbrook Studios and Universal Television. Singer and actress Becky G (Good Mourning, Power Rangers) is in early negotiations to lead the series, Deadline understands.

Jennifer Aniston opened up about all things Friends.

Leaders of SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399 showed their support for the WGA on Monday, posing with WGA leaders shortly before the 11 a.m. start of the Writers Guild’s contract negotiations with producers at the AMPTP’s headquarters in Sherman Oaks.

Much like the beginning of a Congressional hearing on a hot potato political topic, expectations for the first day of talks between the WGA and AMPTP were high, but largely began with formalities.

Just hours before the WGA and the studios are scheduled to start stridulous talks on a new overall contact, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have decided to publicly play nice, firmly.

A new restoration of Jonathan Demme’s one-of-a-kind 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense is underway via A24, the production company announced Thursday (March 16). It hits theaters August 18, alongside a deluxe reissue of its soundtrack (via Rhino) featuring previously unheard takes from the four December 1983 L.A.

Talking Heads‘ Stop Making Sense documentary is returning to cinemas 39 years on from its original release.The film, directed by Jonathan Demme, captured the band at the height of their powers in 1983. Stop Making Sense was shot in Hollywood at the Pantages Theater, with the band touring in support of their fifth album, ‘Speaking in Tongues’.The entire concert was a tightly choreographed production and something unique at the time.

On Sunday, A24 became the first studio to win all six major categories at the Academy Awards with “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” An impressive feat, to be sure, but David Byrne didn’t win Best Original Song for “This Is A Life,” his contribution to the Daniels‘ film. But, alas, A24 has something to cheer Byrne up.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter A24 has acquired worldwide rights to the classic Talking Heads concert film “Stop Making Sense.” A 4K restoration of the movie will be released in theaters globally later this year. Jonathan Demme, the acclaimed filmmaker of “Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,” directed the 1984 film, which is regarded as one of the greatest concert films ever.If the suit still fits… This year, we’re bringing Jonathan Demme’s groundbreaking 1984 Talking Heads concert film STOP MAKING SENSE (newly remastered in 4K!) back to theaters worldwide. #StopMakingSense2023 pic.twitter.com/Kh2Nevaf2X “Stop Making Sense” stars core band members David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz, and Jerry Harrison along with Bernie Worrell, Alex Weir, Steve Scales, Lynn Mabry and Edna Holt. The live performance was shot, roughly 40 years, ago over the course of three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December of 1983 and features Talking Heads’ most memorable songs, including “Burning Down the House” and “This Must Be the Place.”

In the wake of delivering Talking Heads frontman David Byrne his second Oscar nomination with Everything Everywhere All at Once, A24 has acquired worldwide rights to his former band’s 1984 cult hit concert pic, Stop Making Sense, for theatrical release later this year.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter John Mulaney’s newest standup special, titled “John Mulaney: Baby J,” will premiere April 25 on Netflix. It marks Mulaney’s third Netflix standup special following 2015’s “The Comeback Kid” and 2018’s “Kid Gorgeous.” One of his earlier comedy hours, 2012’s “New in Town,” is also available on Netflix. He also worked with the streamer on the Emmy-nominated children’s variety special “John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch” in 2019. Alex Timbers directed “Baby J,” which features music from David Byrne of Talking Heads. It was filmed in Boston’s Symphony Hall in February 2023.

Leaders of the Writers Guild of America won’t discuss the specifics of the contract proposals they’ve exchanged with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. But in an interview with Deadline on Tuesday ahead of next week’s start of negotiations, they made it perfectly clear a deal can be reached without a strike if the companies take the needs of writers seriously.

Superheroism is serious business, or at least that’s what the rubble-colored glower-fests clogging cineplexes these days would have us believe. But director David F.