Martina Michèle Weymouth (born November 22, 1950) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and a founding member and bassist of the
new wave group
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talki ...](_blank)
and its side project
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood", " Genius of Love", and a cover ...
, which she co-founded with her husband, Talking Heads drummer
Chris Frantz. In 2002, Weymouth was inducted into the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...
as a member of Talking Heads.
Early life
Born in
Coronado, California, Weymouth is the daughter of Laura Bouchage and
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
Vice Admiral (1917-2020). The third of seven children, her siblings include Lani and Laura Weymouth, who are collaborators in Tina's band
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood", " Genius of Love", and a cover ...
, and architect
Yann Weymouth
Yann Weymouth is a St. Petersburg, Florida-based architect and the designer of the Salvador Dalí Museum. Early in his career, he served as chief of design for I. M. Pei on the Grand Louvre Project in Paris.
Career
After graduating from Harvard ...
, the designer of the
Salvador Dalí Museum
The Salvador Dalí Museum is an art museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, dedicated to the works of Salvador Dalí. It is located on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront by 5th Avenue Southeast, Bay Shore Drive, and Dan Wheldon W ...
. Weymouth is of French heritage on her mother's side (she is the great-granddaughter of
Anatole Le Braz
Anatole le Braz, the "Bard of Brittany" (2 April 1859 – 20 March 1926), was a Breton poet, folklore collector and translator. He was highly regarded amongst both European and American scholars, and known for his warmth and charm.
Biography
Le B ...
, a
Breton writer). Her mother was an immigrant from France of
Breton descent and her father was American.
When she was 12, Weymouth joined the Potomac English
Hand Bell Ringers, an amateur music group directed by Nancy Tufts, and toured with them. At 14, she started to teach herself the guitar.
Talking Heads
As a student at the
Rhode Island School of Design
The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...
, she met
Chris Frantz and
David Byrne
David Byrne (; born 14 May 1952) is a Scottish-American singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, writer, music theorist, visual artist and filmmaker. He was a founding member and the principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of ...
, who formed a band called the Artistics. She began dating Frantz and served as the band's driver. After graduation, the three of them moved to New York City. Since Byrne and Frantz were unable to find a suitable
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
player she joined them at the latter's request, and began learning and playing the instrument.
As a bass player she combined the minimalist
art-punk
Art punk is a subgenre of punk rock in which artists go beyond the genre's rudimentary garage rock and are considered more sophisticated than their peers. These groups still generated punk's aesthetic of being simple, offensive, and free-spirit ...
bass lines of groups such as
Wire
Overhead power cabling. The conductor consists of seven strands of steel (centre, high tensile strength), surrounded by four outer layers of aluminium (high conductivity). Sample diameter 40 mm
A wire is a flexible strand of metal.
Wire is co ...
and
Pere Ubu
Pere Ubu is an American rock group formed in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1975. The band had a variety of long-term and recurring band members, with singer David Thomas being the only member staying throughout the band's lifetime. They released their ...
with danceable,
funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the mi ...
-inflected riffs to provide the bedrock of Talking Heads' signature sound.
Other musical activities
Full members of the
Compass Point All Stars, Weymouth and Frantz formed the
Tom Tom Club
Tom Tom Club is an American new wave band founded in 1981 by husband-and-wife team Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include " Wordy Rappinghood", " Genius of Love", and a cover ...
in 1980, which kept them busy during a fairly long hiatus in Talking Heads activity. When it became obvious that Talking Heads frontman David Byrne had no interest in another Talking Heads album, Weymouth, Frantz, and
Jerry Harrison
Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American songwriter, musician, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the cult band the Modern Lovers before becoming keyboardist and guitarist ...
reunited without him for a single album called ''
No Talking, Just Head'' under the name "The Heads" in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists. Weymouth has been critical of Byrne, describing him as "a man incapable of returning friendship".
She co-produced the
Happy Mondays
Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up was Shaun Ryder (vocals), his brother Paul Ryder (bass), Gary Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry later joine ...
' 1992 album ''
Yes Please!'' and contributed backing vocals and percussion for the
alternative rock
Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commercial ...
virtual band Gorillaz
Gorillaz are an English virtual band formed in 1998 by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, from London. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: 2-D (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (guit ...
on their track "
19-2000".
Weymouth was a judge for the second annual
Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. She collaborated with
Chicks on Speed
Chicks on Speed is a feminist music and fine art ensemble, formed in Munich in 1997, after members Australian Alex Murray-Leslie and American Melissa Logan met at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
Though Chicks on Speed reached cult status th ...
on their cover of the Tom Tom Club's "
Wordy Rappinghood" for their album ''
99 Cents'' in 2003 along with other female musicians such as
Miss Kittin
Caroline Hervé (born 1973), known professionally as Miss Kittin, is a French electronic music producer, DJ, singer, and songwriter. Since rising to prominence in 1998 for her singles "1982" and "Frank Sinatra" with The Hacker, she has worked ...
,
Kevin Blechdom,
Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American electronic rock band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson for the rest ...
, and
Adult
An adult is a human or other animal that has reached full growth. In human context, the term ''adult'' has meanings associated with social and legal concepts. In contrast to a " minor", a legal adult is a person who has attained the age of maj ...
's
Nicola Kuperus.
"Wordy Rappinghood" became a moderate dance hit in Europe, peaking at number two in the
Dutch Top 40
The Dutch Top 40 ( nl, Nederlandse Top 40) is a weekly music chart compiled by ''Stichting Nederlandse Top 40''. It started as a radio program titled "Veronica Top 40", on the offshore station Radio Veronica in 1965. It remained "The Veroni ...
, number five on the
Belgian Dance Chart, and at number seven on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
.
Personal life
Weymouth and Chris Frantz have been married since 1977. They live in
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It borders the city of Bridgeport and towns of Trumbull, Easton, Weston, and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. Located within the New York metropolitan ar ...
, and have two sons. Her niece,
Katharine Weymouth
Katharine Bouchage Weymouth (born May 28, 1966) is an American lawyer and businesswoman who from 2008 to 2014 was publisher of ''The Washington Post'' and chief executive officer of Washington Post Media.
Early life and education
Weymouth grew u ...
, served as publisher of ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
''.
In March 2022, Weymouth and Frantz were in a car collision with a drunk driver. Weymouth suffered a fractured sternum and three fractured ribs.
Equipment
*
Höfner 500/2 Club Bass – Two pickup with single-cutaway hollowbody, purchased in 1978
* Veillette-Citron Standard 4 String – Neck Through, teal green
*
Fender Mustang Bass – Used in early Talking Heads performances
*
Gibson Les Paul Triumph Bass - used in early Talking Heads performances
*
Fender Jazz Bass
The Fender Jazz Bass (often shortened to ''J-Bass'') is the second model of electric bass created by Leo Fender. It is distinct from the Precision Bass in that its tone is brighter and richer in the midrange and treble with less emphasis on th ...
– Used for Tom Tom Club live performances
*
Steinberger L-Series Bass – Seen during ''
Little Creatures
''Little Creatures'' is the sixth studio album by American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel ...
'' period
*
Fender Swinger
The Fender Swinger (also known as the Fender Musiclander and Fender Arrow – as the "Swinger" emblem is usually missing from the headstock) was a short-lived electric guitar model released by Fender in 1969 and reissued by Fender Japan in 2019 as ...
Guitar – Seen in ''
Stop Making Sense
''Stop Making Sense'' is a 1984 American concert film featuring a live performance by the American rock band Talking Heads. Directed by Jonathan Demme, it was shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood's Pantages Theater in December 198 ...
'' during the performance of "
This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody)"
*
Chapman Stick
The Chapman Stick is an electric musical instrument devised by Emmett Chapman in the early 1970s. A member of the guitar family, the Chapman Stick usually has ten or twelve individually tuned strings and is used to play bass lines, melody lines ...
References
External links
Tom Tom Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weymouth, Tina
1950 births
20th-century American guitarists
20th-century bass guitarists
21st-century American women singers
American new wave musicians
American people of Breton descent
American people of French descent
American rock bass guitarists
Women bass guitarists
Women new wave singers
American women rock singers
Guitarists from California
Living people
People from Coronado, California
People from Fairfield, Connecticut
Rhode Island School of Design alumni
Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music
Singers from California
Talking Heads members
Tom Tom Club members
American women in electronic music
American post-punk musicians
21st-century American singers
20th-century American women guitarists