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Chris Frantz

American musician, drummer and record producer (b. 1951)

Summary

American musician, drummer and record producer (b. 1951)

Field	Value
name	Chris Frantz
image	Austin Music Awards - Talking Heads (cropped).jpg
caption	Frantz at South by Southwest 2010
alt	Frantz talking on stage
birth_name	Charton Christopher Frantz
birth_date
birth_place	Fort Campbell, Kentucky, U.S.
occupation	Drummer
current_member_of	Tom Tom Club
past_member_of	Talking Heads
spouse

Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist, Tina Weymouth. In 2002, Frantz was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Talking Heads.

Career

Born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Frantz graduated from Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh. He studied in the early 1970s at the Rhode Island School of Design, where he met both David Byrne and Tina Weymouth. Byrne and Frantz formed a band called the Artistics, which went on to become Talking Heads, in 1973. Weymouth, then Frantz's girlfriend, joined the band in 1975 after they had moved to New York City. Frantz and Weymouth were married in 1977 and have two sons.

Frantz and Weymouth formed Tom Tom Club in 1980, when Talking Heads went on hiatus due to Byrne's solo efforts. Weymouth, Frantz, and Jerry Harrison reunited as The Heads for a one-off album called No Talking, Just Head in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists, including Debbie Harry. He and Weymouth produced the Happy Mondays' 1992 album, Yes Please! and the Scottish group Angelfish's self-titled album, in addition to producing multiple albums for Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. Frantz and Weymouth also contributed backing vocals and percussion for Gorillaz self-titled debut album.

He is ranked number 12 in Stylus Magazines list of the 50 greatest rock drummers and hosts a monthly radio program, "Chris Frantz the Talking Head", on 89.5 WPKN in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Frantz and Weymouth are also closely associated with the Compass Point All Stars movement. After Phish covered Talking Heads' Remain in Light, Frantz become known as an influence on the modern jamband scene. Frantz's memoir, Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina, was published in July 2020 (St. Martin's Press in the US and Faber and Faber in the UK).

Health

On Memorial Day Weekend 2020, Frantz suffered a heart attack that required the insertion of three stents. In March 2022, Frantz and Tina Weymouth were in a car collision with a drunk driver.

Bibliography

References

Prato, Greg. "Biography: Chris Frantz". [[Allmusic]].
Jacques, Adam. (March 17, 2013). "How We Met: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth". The Independent.
"Talking Heads".
Jacques, Adam. (March 14, 2013). "How We Met: Chris Frantz & Tina Weymouth".
(October 8, 2016). "How the Heads Tried to Move On Without David Byrne With 'No Talking Just Head'".
Boehm, Mike. (September 10, 1992). "Ex-Heads Say They Got Byrned: Split Still Miffs Frantz, Weymouth, Even Though Tom Tom Club Keeps Them Busy". Los Angeles Times.
Kandell, Steve. (October 16, 2009). "Chris Frantz on Talking Heads Reunion & More". Spin.
Daly, Sean. (May 25, 2015). "'Toon In: Gorillaz Animate the Music Scene". The Washington Post.
(May 8, 2016). "Happy Birthday To Fairfield's Chris Frantz". Fairfield Daily Voice.
"Chris Frantz {{!}} WPKN Radio".
Poplak, Richard. (July 9, 2008). "Island dreams". CBC News.
[[Dean Budnick. Budnick, D.]], [https://relix.com/articles/detail/love-stories-chris-frantz-reflects-talking-heads-tom-tom-club-the-dead-and-the-power-of-live/ "‘Love’ Stories: Chris Frantz Reflects on Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, the Dead and the Power of Live"], ''[[Relix]]'', August 3, 2020.
Blais-Billie, Braudie. (April 24, 2018). "Talking Heads' Chris Frantz Announces Memoir".
[[Olivia Laing. Laing, O.]], [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/15/remain-in-love-by-chris-frantz-review-the-talking-heads-drummer-speaks-out "Remain in Love by Chris Frantz review – the Talking Heads drummer speaks out"], ''[[The Guardian]]'', July 15, 2020.
"Rock and Roll Book Club: Chris Frantz's 'Remain In Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina".
[[Alan Paul (author). Paul, A.]], [https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/chris-frantz-on-the-rise-and-fall-of-talking-heads-11596214811 "Chris Frantz on the Rise and Fall of Talking Heads"], [[The Wall Street Journal. ''WSJ'']], July 31, 2020.
(March 28, 2022). "Talking Heads musicians survive serious collision with drunk driver".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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