80’s Sunday Rewind: Tom Tom Club

Here's a late Sunday 80's Rewind for you.

I've loved Tom Tom Club since back in the day.  Everyone's heard Tom Tom Club, even if you weren't aware of them, you know them.  I pulled the following from their website (which is impressive, by the way).

The Tom Tom Club was created by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth in 1981.
Graduates from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1974, they moved to
New York City where they founded Talking Heads as a trio with David
Byrne in 1975. Chris played drums, Tina played bass and David sang and
played guitar. In November of 1976 they signed to Sire Records and
released their first singles. In 1977 they were joined by Jerry
Harrison (of the original Modern Lovers) from Boston. Jerry played
guitar and keyboards. It was in early 1981, after five years of touring
internationally and four studio albums they wrote and recorded with
Talking Heads– Talking Heads: 77 (1977); More Songs About Buildings And Food (1978); Fear Of Music (1979); and Remain In Light
(1980)–that Chris and Tina were encouraged by Jerry and David, who had
each left the group to make solo albums, to do likewise. So they signed
with Island Records, then owned by industry legend Chris Blackwell, one
of the first people to fully appreciate the value of a great rhythm
section in and of itself. In March 1981 they flew down to Compass Point
Studios, Bahamas, to record.

So, yeah, Chris and Tina were in Talking Heads, but Tom Tom Club were revolutionary in the music industry.  They were ahead of their time with "Genius of Love" and that song has taken on a life of its own.  This is from the Wikipedia page on "Genius of Love":

This song is one of the most sampled rhythm tracks of all time,
particularly within the rap/R&B/hip-hop genre, with dozens of
unsolicited remixes and versions, most notably Dr. Jeckyl & Mr. Hyde's "Genius Rap" in 1981; GrandMaster Flash & The Furious Five's "It's Nasty" in 1982; Mariah Carey's "Fantasy" in 1995; and The X-Ecutioners' "Genius of Love 2002" in 2002. Also, Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack" in 1996.

Other artists have incorporated "Genius of Love" into their works, including: Public Enemy's "Leave This Off Your Fu*kin Charts," Redman's song "Brick City Mashin!," Cam'Ron's "Me, My Moms & Jimmy," 2nd II None's "Niggaz Trippin'," Fresh Kid Ice's "Roll Call," Tupac Shakur's "High Speed," Mark Morrison's "Return of the Mack," Busta Rhymes' "One," Ant Banks' "Roll 'Em Phat," P.M. Dawns' "Gotta Be… Movin' On Up," Annie's "Chewing Gum," Menajahtwa's "I Ain't Nasti," and "Genius E Dub" by Eric Sermon.

Onto some video goodness.  Love this.  "Genius of Love," a hilarious video of "Wordy Rappinghood," "Pleasure of Love," and "As Above So Below" — the last being a weird video I know nil about, but features Judd Nelson for some reason.  I know, weird.

'til tomorrow,