I remember seeing David Byrne and his latin orchestra on, I believe, the Arsenio Hall Show playing “Dirty Old Town” and I was in awe. By this point I was considering myself a drummer and any latin groove had me hooked pretty quickly. I mean, why is the guy who was “Burning Down the House” on my TV screen as Ricky Ricardo? I don’t know and I don’t care, just give me more!
The whole album, Rei Momo, is Byrne trying out a variety of latin grooves. What made it great for me was he took the time to name the styles in the liner notes!
“Dirty Old Town” has the groove, the horns, the build-up, the catchy hook, the lyrical picture painting, the tight stops…
We’ll hear more from Byrne later, but this song is the last of the four horse-songs of Nathan’s favorite pop apocalypse.
Music That Matters (To Me) 