Charton Christopher Frantz (born May 8, 1951) is an American musician and record producer. He is the drummer for both

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

and

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 as a side project from Talking Heads. Their best known songs include the UK top 10 hit " Wordy Rappinghood" and the US top 40 hi ...

, both of which he co-founded with wife and Talking Heads bassist,

Tina Weymouth 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 and its side project Tom Tom Club, which she co-founded with her husband, ...

. In 2002, Frantz was inducted into the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also 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 the ...

as a member of Talking Heads.

Career

Born in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, Frantz graduated from

Shady Side Academy } Shady Side Academy is an independent preparatory school in Fox Chapel, Pennsylvania in Greater Pittsburgh. Founded in 1883 as an all-male night school in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, the academy now offers a secular coeducation ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. He studied in the early 1970s 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 th ...

, where he met both

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Frantz and Weymouth were married in 1977 and have two sons. Frantz and Weymouth formed

in 1980, when Talking Heads went on hiatus due to Byrne's solo efforts. Weymouth, Frantz, and

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for ...

reunited as The Heads for a one-off album called ''

No Talking, Just Head ''No Talking, Just Head'' is the only studio album by the Heads, a band composed of Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, joined by a variety of guest singers. Released in October 1996, the project was commercially ...

'' in 1996, featuring a rotating cast of vocalists, including

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

. He and Weymouth produced the

Happy Mondays Happy Mondays are an English rock band formed in Salford in 1980. The original line-up consisted of brothers Shaun Ryder (vocals) and Paul Ryder (bass), Gaz Whelan (drums), Paul Davis (keyboard), and Mark Day (guitar). Mark "Bez" Berry la ...

' 1992 album, ''

Yes Please! ''Yes Please!'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Happy Mondays, released on 22 September 1992 through Factory Records. Following the non-album single "Judge Fudge", Factory allotted the band a budget of £150,000 for their next a ...

'' and the Scottish group Angelfish's self-titled album, in addition to producing multiple albums for

Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and S ...

. Frantz and Weymouth also contributed backing vocals and percussion for

Gorillaz Gorillaz are an English virtual band created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett in London, England in 1998. The band primarily consists of four fictional members: (vocals, keyboards), Murdoc Niccals (bass guitar), Noodle (gui ...

self-titled debut album. He is ranked number 12 in ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

''s 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 Bridgeport is the List of municipalities in Connecticut, most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut and the List of cities in New England by population, fifth-most populous city in New England, with a population of 148,654 in 2020. Loc ...

. Frantz and Weymouth are also closely associated with the

Compass Point All Stars Compass Point Studios was a music recording studio in the Bahamas, founded in 1977 by Chris Blackwell, the owner of Island Records. The concept of the studio was of a recording facility supported by in-house sets of artists, musicians, producers ...

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 St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan in New York City. It is headquartered in the Equitable Building (New York City), Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishe ...

in the US and

Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...

in the UK).

Health

Memorial Day Weekend Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. It is observed on the last Monday of May. It is ...

2020, Frantz suffered a heart attack that required the insertion of three stents. In March 2022, Frantz and

were in a car collision with a drunk driver.

Bibliography

References

External links

Caroline-up's Skype Interview w/Chris Frantz 2013/17/03

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frantz, Chris 1951 births 20th-century American drummers American male drummers American new wave musicians American rock drummers New wave drummers Living people People from Christian County, Kentucky Entertainers from Fairfield, Connecticut Rhode Island School of Design alumni Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music Rock musicians from Kentucky Shady Side Academy alumni Talking Heads members Tom Tom Club members Memoirists from Kentucky 21st-century American memoirists Drummers from Connecticut Drummers from Kentucky