The Catherine Wheel (album)

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The Catherine Wheel
The Catherine WheelOriginal.jpg
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedNovember 23, 1981 (1981-11-23) [1]
Studio
  • Celestial Sound, New York
  • Olympic, London
Genre Art rock, worldbeat, funk
Length40:45 (LP)
68:41 (cassette, CD)
Label Sire
Producer David Byrne
David Byrne chronology
My Life in the Bush of Ghosts
(1981)
The Catherine Wheel
(1981)
Music for "The Knee Plays"
(1985)
Singles from The Catherine Wheel
  1. "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open) / Leg Bells"
    Released: 1981 (UK and Netherlands)
  2. "Big Business / My Big Hands / Big Blue Plymouth"
    Released: 1981 (US and Canada)
  3. "His Wife Refused / My Big Hands"
    Released: 1982 (Italy)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [2]
Robert Christgau A− [3]

The Catherine Wheel is an album by Scottish-American musician David Byrne, released in 1981 by Sire Records. It contains Byrne's musical score for choreographer Twyla Tharp's dance project of the same name. [4] [5] The Catherine Wheel premiered September 22, 1981, at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.

Contents

The tracks "Big Blue Plymouth", "My Big Hands", "Big Business", and "What a Day That Was" were performed live by Talking Heads in 1983. The latter two tracks appear in their film Stop Making Sense (1984) — "What a Day That Was" appears on the original version of the soundtrack; "Big Business" was later included in the 2023 expanded edition.

Byrne has also performed several of these tracks in his solo tours, including "What a Day That Was", which appeared on his DVDs Live at Union Chapel (2004) and Live from Austin, TX (2007).

The complete score was reissued on double vinyl for Record Store Day 2023.

Track listing

All songs written by David Byrne, except where noted.

LP

Side one

  1. "His Wife Refused" – 4:26
  2. "Two Soldiers" (Music: Byrne, Brian Eno) – 4:45
  3. "The Red House" – 3:17
  4. "My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)" – 2:45
  5. "Big Business" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, John Chernoff) – 5:16

Side two

  1. "Eggs in a Briar Patch" – 3:31
  2. "Poison" – 2:38
  3. "Cloud Chamber" – 2:42
  4. "What a Day That Was" – 5:32
  5. "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" – 4:45
  6. "Light Bath" – 1:08

Cassette/CD

  1. "Light Bath" – 1:09
  2. "His Wife Refused" – 4:31
  3. "Ade" (Music: Byrne, Eno)  – 3:22
  4. "Walking" (Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 0:52
  5. "Two Soldiers" (Music: Byrne, Eno)  – 3:31
  6. "Under the Mountain" – 0:53
  7. "Dinosaur" – 2:36
  8. "The Red House" – 3:17
  9. "Wheezing" – 3:12
  10. "Eggs in a Briar Patch" – 3:31
  11. "Poison" – 2:31
  12. "Cloud Chamber" – 2:50
  13. "Black Flag" – 2:29
  14. "My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)" – 2:46
  15. "Combat" (Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 2:45
  16. "Leg Bells" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 2:40
  17. "The Blue Flame" – 3:25
  18. "Big Business" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 5:06
  19. "Dense Beasts" – 3:11
  20. "Five Golden Sections" – 2:53
  21. "What a Day That Was" – 5:30
  22. "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" – 4:43
  23. "Light Bath" – 1:10

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

Charts

YearChartPosition
1982 Billboard 200 104 [6]

Release history

RegionDateLabelFormatCatalog
Worldwide1981 Warner Bros. LP3645
Sire Cassette tapeM5S-3645
1987 Luaka Bop CD3645
1990Warner Bros.Cassette tape3645
CD

References

  1. "FMQB" (PDF). p. 35.
  2. Anderson, Rick. The Catherine Wheel at AllMusic
  3. "David Byrne". Robert Christgau.
  4. Kisselgoff, Anna (23 September 1981). "Dance: Twyla Tharp's New 'Wheel'". The New York Times via NYTimes.com.
  5. "David Byrne".
  6. "David Byrne". Billboard.