Talking Heads’ New CD Set Features Rare Early Demos

Talking Heads have announced the release of a new three-CD set titled Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live, which will gather dozens of previously unreleased demos and live recordings from their first two years in New York, following their move from Rhode Island.

The expanded collection, which was released as an 11-track vinyl set at last year’s Record Store Day Black Friday event, will be released on March 6.

The songs feature the band’s early lineup of David Byrne, Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth before keyboardist Jerry Harrison joined in March 1977, six months before the release of their debut album, Talking Heads: 77.

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The upcoming set includes 15 additional unreleased demos recorded for CBS in September 1975 that weren’t on 2025’s RSD vinyl, along with 17 live recordings from 1976.

You can hear the previously unreleased CBS demo of “Love Goes to a Building on Fire” below.

Listen to Talking Heads’ ‘Love Goes to a Building on Fire’ Demo

“One day, David knocked on the door of the painting studio Tina and I shared,” Frantz recalls in the liner notes to the new CD set. “He played us the first verse and chorus of ‘Psycho Killer,’ which sounded promising.”

From there, the trio began focusing on original material rather than the covers of Motown and Kinks songs they had been playing.

Notably, the trio’s demo session for CBS in 1975 did not result in a recording contract for the group.

What’s on Talking Heads’ ‘Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live’?

Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live features demos from 1975 and 1976 of songs that would later be released on Talking Heads’ first two albums, including “Psycho Killer,” “No Compassion,” “Thank You for Sending Me an Angel” and “I’m Not in Love.”

Live performances from New York’s Max’s Kansas City (recorded on Oct. 9, 1976), the Jabberwocky Club in Syracuse, New York (Jan. 26, 1977), and New York’s Lower Manhattan Ocean Club (Aug. 17, 1976) are featured on the album’s third CD.

Will Talking Heads’ ‘Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live’ Be Available on Vinyl?

In addition to the three-CD set, a black vinyl version of the album, originally released on Record Store Day on clear vinyl, will be available.

That edition, like the earlier RSD set, will include a 7″ single featuring an early version of Talking Heads called the Artistics performing two songs in Frantz’s Rhode Island apartment, later reworked by the band: “Psycho Killer” and “Warning Sign.” (Those songs are also on the CD.)

You can see the track listing for Talking Heads’ Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live below.

Talking Heads, ‘Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live’ Track Listing

Disc One
1. “Psycho Killer” (September 1975 Demo)
2. “Tentative Decisions” (September 1975 Demo)
3. “No Compassion” (September 1975 Demo)
4. “Warning Sign” (September 1975 Demo)
5. “I’m Not in Love” (1976 Demo)
6. “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” (1976 Demo)
7. “The Book I Read” (1976 Demo)
8. “I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That” (1976 Demo)
9. “Love Goes To A Building On Fire” (1976 Demo)
10. “Happy Day” (1976 Demo)
11. “Artists Only” (Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, New York, NY, 8/17/76)
12. “Psycho Killer” – The Artistics
13. “Warning Sign” – The Artistics

Disc Two
CBS Demos (September 1975)
1. “Psycho Killer” *
2. “Sugar On My Tongue” *
3. “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” *
4. “I Want To Live” *
5. “I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That” *
6. “The Girls Want To Be With The Girls” *
7. “Who Is It?” *
8. “With Our Love” *
9. “Stay Hungry” *
10. “Tentative Decisions” *
11. “Warning Sign” *
12. “I’m Not In Love” *
13. “The Book I Read” *
14. “Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
15. “No Compassion” *

Disc Three
Live at Max’s Kansas City, New York, NY (10/9/76)
1. “Artists Only” *
2. “1, 2, 3 Red Light” *
3. “Happy Day” *
4. “Don’t Worry About The Government” *
5. “Psycho Killer” *
6. “Love Goes To A Building On Fire” *
7. “Thank You For Sending Me An Angel” *
8. “With Our Love” *
9. “Pablo Picasso” *
10. “I’m Not In Love” *
Live at the Jabberwocky Club, Syracuse, NY (1/26/77)
11. “No Compassion” *
12. “New Feeling” *
13. “Psycho Killer” *
14. “A Clean Break (Let’s Work)” *
15. “Sugar On My Tongue” *
Live at the Lower Manhattan Ocean Club, New York, NY (8/17/76)
16. “I Wish You Wouldn’t Say That” *
17. “Take Me To The River” *

* Previously Unreleased