Little Creatures (album)

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Little Creatures
Studio album by
Talking Heads
ReleasedJune 10, 1985 (1985-06-10)
RecordedOctober 1984 – March 1985
StudioSigma Sound (New York City)
Genre
Length38:38
LabelSire
ProducerTalking Heads
Talking Heads chronology
Stop Making Sense
(1984)		 Little Creatures
(1985)		 True Stories
(1986)
Singles from Little Creatures
  1. "The Lady Don't Mind"
    Released: May 1985
  2. "Road to Nowhere"
    Released: June 3, 1985
  3. "And She Was"
    Released: August 1985[2]
  4. "Stay Up Late"
    Released: 1985 (U.S.)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStarHalf star[3]
Chicago TribuneStarStarHalf star[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStarStar[5]
Hot Press11/12[6]
Pitchfork8.0/10[7]
The Rolling Stone Album GuideStarStar[8]
Spin Alternative Record Guide8/10[9]
Tom Hull – on the WebA[10]
Uncut9/10[11]
The Village VoiceA[12]

Little Creatures is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel guitar. It was voted album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, and is the band's best-selling studio album, with more than two million copies sold in the United States. The cover art was created by outsider artist Howard Finster, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone.

Track listing

All tracks are written by David Byrne, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."And She Was"  3:36
2."Give Me Back My Name"  3:20
3."Creatures of Love"  4:12
4."The Lady Don't Mind" 
4:03
5."Perfect World"
  • Byrne
  • Frantz
 4:26
Side two
No.TitleLength
6."Stay Up Late"3:51
7."Walk It Down"4:42
8."Television Man"6:10
9."Road to Nowhere"4:19
Total length:38:38
1985 UK CD bonus track
No.TitleLength
10."The Lady Don't Mind" (Extended Mix)6:51
2005 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
10."Road to Nowhere" (Early version)4:37
11."And She Was" (Early version)3:36
12."Television Man" (Extended mix)7:52

Personnel

Talking Heads

Additional musicians

Recording

  • Jack Skinner – mastering
  • Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing
  • Melanie West – second engineer

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for Little Creatures
Chart (1985) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[13] 2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[14] 4
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[15] 18
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[16] 4
European Albums (Music & Media)[17] 14
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[18] 37
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[19] 9
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)[20] 22
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 1
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 16
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 10
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 12
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 10
US Billboard 200[26] 20
Weekly chart performance for Little Creatures
Chart (2023) Peak
position
Croatian International Albums (HDU)[27] 3
Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)[28] 12

Year-end charts

1985 year-end chart performance for Little Creatures
Chart (1985) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[29] 7
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[30] 57
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[31] 39
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[32] 47
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[33] 5
UK Albums (Gallup)[34] 77
1986 year-end chart performance for Little Creatures
Chart (1986) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[35] 17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[36] 12
UK Albums (Gallup)[37] 59

Decade-end charts

Decade-end chart performance for Little Creatures
Chart (1980–1989) Position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[38] 21

Certifications and sales

Certifications and sales for Little Creatures
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Australia — 150,000[39]
Germany (BVMI)[40] Gold 250,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)[41] Platinum 15,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[42] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[43] 2× Platinum 2,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. "Top 10 David Byrne Talking Heads Lyrics". Ultimate Classic Rock. May 14, 2013. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
  2. Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate Books. p. 809. ISBN 9780862415419.
  3. Ruhlmann, William. "Little Creatures – Talking Heads". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  4. Kot, Greg (May 6, 1990). "Talking Heads On The Record". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  5. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
  6. Stokes, Dermot (July 5, 1985). "Little Creatures". Hot Press. Archived from the original on February 21, 2002. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  7. Bloom, Madison (April 23, 2020). "Talking Heads: Little Creatures". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  8. Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Talking Heads". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 802–03. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  9. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). "Talking Heads". Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. p. 394. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  10. Hull, Tom (November 27, 2023). "Grade List: Talking Heads". Tom Hull – on the Web. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  11. "Uncut - August 2015 UK". Uncut. August 1, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
  12. Christgau, Robert (July 30, 1985). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  13. Kent 1993, p. 304.
  14. "Austriancharts.at – Talking Heads – Little Creatures" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  15. "Top RPM Albums: Image 0564". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Talking Heads – Little Creatures" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  17. "European Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Eurotipsheet. Vol. 2, no. 29/30. July 29, 1985. p. 14. OCLC 29800226 – via World Radio History.
  18. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Talking Heads – Little Creatures" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  20. "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Retrieved May 29, 2022. Select "Album" in the "Tipo" field, type "Talking Heads" in the "Artista" field and press "cerca".
  21. "Charts.nz – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  22. "Norwegiancharts.com – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  23. "Swedishcharts.com – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  24. "Swisscharts.com – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  25. "Official Albums Chart on 23/6/1985 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  26. "Talking Heads Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  27. "Lista prodaje 43. tjedan 2023" (in Croatian). Top of the Shops. October 16, 2023. Archived from the original on November 1, 2023. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  28. "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2023. 41. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved October 18, 2023.
  29. Kent 1993, p. 437.
  30. "RPM's Top 100 Albums of 1985". RPM. Vol. 43, no. 16. December 28, 1985. p. 14. ISSN 0033-7064 – via Library and Archives Canada.
  31. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1985" (in Dutch). Dutch Charts. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  32. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1985" (in German). Offizielle Deutsche Charts. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  33. "Top Selling Albums of 1985". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved April 15, 2017.
  34. "Top 100 Albums (January 5–December 28, 1985)" (PDF). Music Week. January 18, 1986. p. 11. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  35. Kent 1993, p. 438.
  36. "Top Selling Albums of 1986". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  37. "Top 100 Albums (January to December 1986)" (PDF). Music Week. January 24, 1987. p. 25. ISSN 0265-1548 – via World Radio History.
  38. Kent 1993.
  39. Barker, Glenn A. (November 9, 1985). "Majors". Billboard. Vol. 97, no. 45. p. A-26. ISSN 0006-2510 – via Google Books.
  40. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Talking Heads; 'Little Creatures')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  41. "New Zealand album certifications – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  42. "British album certifications – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". British Phonographic Industry. November 26, 1985. Retrieved February 3, 2022. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Little Creatures Talking Heads in the "Search:" field.
  43. "American album certifications – Talking Heads – Little Creatures". Recording Industry Association of America.

Bibliography