Let There Be Love (7LP)

Let There Be Love (7LP)Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth tapped into the power of the groove with Tom Tom Club, a project that evolved across three decades and six studio albums. Rhino collects them in the upcoming set Let There Be Love. The albums included are TOM TOM CLUB (1981), CLOSE TO THE BONE (1983), BOOM BOOM CHI BOOM BOOM (1988), DARK SNEAK LOVE ACTION (1991), THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FUNKY (2000), and DOWNTOWN ROCKERS (2012) a body of work that bridges the gap

Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth tapped into the power of the groove with Tom Tom Club, a project that evolved across three decades and six studio albums. Rhino collects them in the upcoming set Let There Be Love. The albums included are TOM TOM CLUB (1981), CLOSE TO THE BONE (1983), BOOM BOOM CHI BOOM BOOM (1988), DARK SNEAK LOVE ACTION (1991), THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FUNKY (2000), and DOWNTOWN ROCKERS (2012) — a body of work that bridges the gap between ’80s new wave and the early hip-hop generation. 

Frantz and Weymouth first recorded at Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas with Talking Heads for 1978’s MORE SONGS ABOUT BUILDINGS AND FOOD and 1980’s REMAIN IN LIGHT. A year later, with the band on hiatus, the pair returned to the island and started playing with the “Compass Point All Stars”—Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Uzziah “Sticky” Thompson, and Tyrone Downie — plus guitar wizard Adrian Belew and vocalists Lani, Laura, and Loric Weymouth. 

Taking the name Tom Tom Club from the dancehall where they first rehearsed, the group released its self-titled debut in 1981. The centerpiece, “Genius of Love,” remains one of the most sampled tracks in music history, its elastic bassline anchoring hits from Mariah Carey, Grandmaster Flash, and Tupac Shakur.

Yet, the Tom Tom Club legacy goes deeper than a single hit. Across decades of recording, Frantz and Weymouth maintained a collaborative, experimental approach, welcoming a rotating gallery of guests into the studio. On BOOM BOOM CHI BOOM BOOM, the cover of Velvet Underground’s “Femme Fatale” features Lou Reed, David Byrne, and Jerry Harrison; later, the duo brought reggae great Toots Hibbert and funk legend Bernie Worrell into the fold for THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE FUNKY. By the time they reached 2012’s DOWNTOWN ROCKERS, the pair had long cemented their reputation as architects of dancefloor rhythms—a sound that remains as infectious and vibrant today as it was at the dawn of the ’80s.