• David Byrne was born a Scot. He entered the world in Dunbarton on May 14, 1952. When he was two his father took the family to Canada to pursue his career as an electrical engineer.

• Martina Weymouth and Chris Frantz share a military background. Tina's father was in the Navy, Frantz was raised as an army brat in Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

• Byrne eventually chose the Rhode Island School of Design to study (where he met Frantz and Weymouth), principally because he "liked the graffiti".

• 'Psycho Killer' was written by Byrne in an experimental mood to see if he could pen a song with someone else's style. He was actually following Alice Cooper having just listened to 'Billion Dollar Babies'.

• Frantz and Byrne first collaborated in a university band they called The Artistics (frequently dubbed The Autistics because of the high volumes they used). Weymouth was a fan.

• One of Byrne's earlier bands had been a duo with friend Mark Kehoe. They called themselves Bizaldi. Byrne played violin and ukelele and they worked on Sinatra songs.

• Chris Frantz's first instrument was trumpet. He swapped to trombone when he decided he couldn't supply the required wind power, and converted to drums.

• When Tina Weymouth was 12 she used to be a member of Mrs Tuft's English Handbell Ringing Group touring American churches dressed in Elizabethan costumes and playing English folk songs and medieval melodies.

• Adrian Belew was invited to join the Heads in early 1981. But they told him he could only play if he didn't use any effects.

• Eno first met the band in the spring of 1977 when they were playing on a date with the Ramones during a British tour.

• The name "Talking Heads" was taken from a TV guide in May 1975.

• Jerry Harrison first rose to fame as a keyboard player for Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers.

• Weymouth, Byrne and Frantz moved to New York looking for a bassist to complete their line up, expecting the city to be littered with them. After a depressing lack of success, Weymouth eventually bought a bass.

• Lou Reed used to invite the band to his apartment, mainly, it would seem, to spend the first hour of every conversation insulting David Byrne.

• Chris Frantz described the making of the "Speaking In Tongues" album as the easiest and most agreeable experience he'd ever had with Talking Heads.

• Byrne picked up the phrase 'Burning Down The House' from an audience chant at a Parliament-Funkadelic concert.