'Downtown Rockers' Is The First New Material Released By Tom Tom Club In More Than 12 Years. Recorded After An Extensive US And European Tour, The 'Downtown Rockers' EP Also Features A Remix By Dance Floor Classic DJ Arthur Baker .
Downtown Rockers features Tom Tom Club's characteristic upbeat fusion of electro and funk. Chris Frantz explains, "We recorded the basic tracks soon after Tom Tom Club toured with the Psychedelic Furs in October of 2011 at our home studio. These tracks were built from improvised jam sessions with Bruce Martin on keyboards and Pablo Martin on guitar, Tina Weymouth on bass and Chris Frantz on drums. This is the same way we began "Remain In Light" with Talking Heads. This time our only instruction to the other players was to keep the parts simple with lots of space like Booker T. and the MGs would do."
This is the group's first collection of new material in more than a decade. Tom Tom Club are known for timeless hits such as "Wordy Rappinghood" and "Genius of Love," among many others, Tom Tom Club was formed by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who were both founding members of the Talking Heads.
The new album, Downtown Rockers, features six new songs highlighting Tom Tom Club's energetic, effervescent, and upbeat fusion of, reggae, afrobeat, hip hop and funk on such tracks as "Downtown Rockers," "Won't Give You Up," "You Make Rock and Roll," "Kissin' Antonio" and "Sweets To The Sweet."
The lead single "Downtown Rockers" pays tribute to the many bands that created the downtown music scene in New York City in the 70's from The Velvet Underground to the Talking Heads. The song was mixed by Ed Stasium, who also recorded and mixed Talking Heads '77 and umpteen Ramones classics. Arthur Baker, who has worked with Tom Tom Club in the 80s, also produced a dance remix of "Downtown Rockers".