Chris Frantz is the drummer for Talking Heads and Tom Tom Club. Remain in Love is his memoir and a valentine to his wife and bass partner Tina Weymouth. The first sentence of the Preface captures the tone of the book well:
I had the great fortune to not only be a founding member of one of the most unique and exciting rock bands of all time, but to do so alongside the love of my life, Tina Weymouth.
Frantz has a friendly, casual writing style, and favors light anecdotes about people he has met and liked. His stories sound very much like what you would hear if you met him at a dinner party or sat next to him on an airplane. If you told your raconteur friend, "You should write a book!", it might come out like Remain in Love.
He comes across as an affable fellow, with only positive things to say about everyone except for recurring bitter comments about David Byrne. He provides the same enthusiastic introductions for his high school friends as he does for Brian Eno or Lou Reed. He describes the hotels, theaters, bus rides, and dinners more than musical subjects, which contributes to the everyman vibe but frankly makes me wonder about his defensiveness regarding his talent. (He feels obliged to mention every time someone praises him or Tina.)
I wish Frantz had elaborated more about how the various members of Talking Heads contributed to its sound and about the dynamics within the band. Jerry Harrison's perspective was notably absent from Frantz's diatribes against David Byrne. Of course, that would make Remain in Love a different book altogether, a more traditional rock memoir. That more traditional memoir would also be more forthcoming about the darker shadings of Frantz' character, such as his drug problems.
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