After nine good, adventurous albums, Talking Heads drifted off our radars almost as soon as they folded in 1988. The next decade was split into insular camps for guitars or electronics. Bands that toyed with both were put aside, particularly if they were into big, arty theatre. Jonathan Demme's concert film survives as Talking Heads' strongest legacy, and its soundtrack is the best way to make sense of the band.

Stop Making Sense revealed that Talking Heads were more than wilfully obscure devotees of the thin tie and art-punk. The joy in the three performances - at Hollywood's Pantages Theatre in December 1983 - that became the film and album made their songs staples on mainstream radio around the world. Before SMS, Once In A Lifetime was just another gloomy slight on suburbia as jail.

Suddenly we could see their approach owed as much to James Brown as the Ramones. We didn't need to hear their version of Al Green's Take Me To The River to know they were funky - David Byrne had already shown that on track one, Psycho Killer, by playing it alone, backed by acoustic guitar and a beat.

The popularity of SMS helped keep Talking Heads together long enough to make three of their best albums, before leaving their influence to patiently wait, like the narrator of Life During Wartime: 'Transmit the message, to the receiver/ Hope for an answer some day'.