Tina Weymouth

They say that breaking up is hard to do. But getting dumped is harder--especially when you get dumped the way Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth say they got dumped by their old comrade, singer-guitar player David Byrne. After more than three years working apart from the other members of Talking Heads, Byrne announced the breakup last December in The Times' Pop Eye column. Frantz and Weymouth say that was news to them.

In progressive music circles, it's an event whenever Tom Tom Club , the arty electro-funk Talking Heads spin-off composed of Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, releases a new record.  "Downtown Rockers," released Sept. 11, is the band's first recording in more than a decade, and the gotta-dance, six-track EP should satisfy expectant fans. The title track pays homage to the free-wheeling New York City music scene of the 1970s and name-checks the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, Television and the New York Dolls.

Johnette Napolitano has signed on as lead singer for the Heads--a group featuring former Talking Heads members Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and Jerry Harrison (but not David Byrne)--for a tour in the fall. An album by the group, with a rotating cast of vocalists (including Deborah Harry, Michael Hutchence and Live's Ed Kowalczyk) is due next month. Former Concrete Blonde leader Napolitano will also continue her own projects, including a planned solo album.

In progressive music circles, it's an event whenever Tom Tom Club , the arty electro-funk Talking Heads spin-off composed of Heads members Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, releases a new record.  "Downtown Rockers," released Sept. 11, is the band's first recording in more than a decade, and the gotta-dance, six-track EP should satisfy expectant fans. The title track pays homage to the free-wheeling New York City music scene of the 1970s and name-checks the Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, the Ramones, Television and the New York Dolls.

They say that breaking up is hard to do. But getting dumped is harder--especially when you get dumped the way Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth say they got dumped by their old comrade, David Byrne. After more than three years working apart from the other members of Talking Heads, Byrne made the break official last December by uttering this sentence for The Times' Sunday Calendar Pop Eye column: "You could say (we've) broken up, or call it whatever you like."

*** Gorillaz, "Gorillaz," Virgin. Are 2D, Murdoc, Noodle and Russel the Archies of anime? It may be a cartoon group, but this troop of droogs comes with credibility--the tunes behind the toons are from Blur's Damon Albarn and Bay Area beat master Dan the Automator, with contributions from Del tha Funkee Homosapien, Tina Weymouth and even Ibrahim Ferrer of the Buena Vista Social Club. It's playful hip-hop-pop, appropriately, but not lightweight novelty. In stores Tuesday.

Johnette Napolitano has signed on as lead singer for the Heads--a group featuring former Talking Heads members Tina Weymouth, Chris Franz and Jerry Harrison (but not David Byrne)--for a tour in the fall. An album by the group, with a rotating cast of vocalists (including Deborah Harry, Michael Hutchence and Live's Ed Kowalczyk) is due next month. Former Concrete Blonde leader Napolitano will also continue her own projects, including a planned solo album.

They say that breaking up is hard to do. But getting dumped is harder--especially when you get dumped the way Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth say they got dumped by their old comrade, David Byrne. After more than three years working apart from the other members of Talking Heads, Byrne made the break official last December by uttering this sentence for The Times' Sunday Calendar Pop Eye column: "You could say (we've) broken up, or call it whatever you like."

They say that breaking up is hard to do. But getting dumped is harder--especially when you get dumped the way Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth say they got dumped by their old comrade, singer-guitar player David Byrne. After more than three years working apart from the other members of Talking Heads, Byrne announced the breakup last December in The Times' Pop Eye column. Frantz and Weymouth say that was news to them.

Jerry Harrison, keyboardist and guitarist for Talking Heads, says the band is "officially in hibernation," but no one is resting. Harrison, 41, said he had hoped Talking Heads would put out an album this year, but "I didn't get my way." "We're not through as a band, but we're not doing anything this year," he said in the Aug. 6 issue of People magazine. The band's last album, "Naked," was released in 1988.