Tom Tom Club

In 2001, Talking Heads offshoot Tom Tom Club staged their own Stop Making Sense, recording Live at the Clubhouse, 16 of their best known tracks, performed in their home studio for select friends. The live LP was surprisingly listenable and relevant, showing ex-Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth sounding energetic and crisp. Somehow, Latin alternative label Nacional Records figured out how to make this album unlistenable and joyless with the release of Genius of Live. Plucking 11 tracks from Live at the Clubhouse and adding a second disc featuring 11 remixes of their most memorable hit, "Genius of Love," by mostly Mexican-friendly artists like Money Mark, Kinky and Mexican Institute of Sound, Genius of Live removes most of what made Live at the Clubhouse malleable (i.e., covers of "96 Tears" and "Take Me to the River," fluid sequencing, etc.). Although remixes by Ozomatli and Señor Coconut offer slight highlights, hardcores are better off pretending this release never happened.