The Catherine Wheel (album)

The Catherine Wheel is an album by Scottish-American musician David Byrne, released in 1981 by Sire Records. It contains Byrne's musical score for choreographer Twyla Tharp's dance project of the same name. The Catherine Wheel premiered September 22, 1981, at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.

The tracks "Big Blue Plymouth", "My Big Hands", "Big Business", and "What a Day That Was" were performed live by Talking Heads in 1983. The latter two tracks appear in their film Stop Making Sense (1984) — "What a Day That Was" appears on the original version of the soundtrack; "Big Business" was later included in the 2023 expanded edition.

Byrne has also performed several of these tracks in his solo tours, including "What a Day That Was", which appeared on his DVDs Live at Union Chapel (2004) and Live from Austin, TX (2007).

The complete score was reissued on double vinyl for Record Store Day 2023.

Track listing

All songs written by David Byrne, except where noted.

LP

Side one

1. "His Wife Refused" – 4:26
2. "Two Soldiers" (Music: Byrne, Brian Eno) – 4:45
3. "The Red House" – 3:17
4. "My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)" – 2:45
5. "Big Business" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, John Chernoff) – 5:16

Side two

1. "Eggs in a Briar Patch" – 3:31
2. "Poison" – 2:38
3. "Cloud Chamber" – 2:42
4. "What a Day That Was" – 5:32
5. "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" – 4:45
6. "Light Bath" – 1:08

Cassette/CD

1. "Light Bath" – 1:09
2. "His Wife Refused" – 4:31
3. "Ade" (Music: Byrne, Eno)  – 3:22
4. "Walking" (Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 0:52
5. "Two Soldiers" (Music: Byrne, Eno)  – 3:31
6. "Under the Mountain" – 0:53
7. "Dinosaur" – 2:36
8. "The Red House" – 3:17
9. "Wheezing" – 3:12
10. "Eggs in a Briar Patch" – 3:31
11. "Poison" – 2:31
12. "Cloud Chamber" – 2:50
13. "Black Flag" – 2:29
14. "My Big Hands (Fall Through the Cracks)" – 2:46
15. "Combat" (Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 2:45
16. "Leg Bells" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 2:40
17. "The Blue Flame" – 3:25
18. "Big Business" (Lyrics: Byrne; Music: Byrne, Chernoff)  – 5:06
19. "Dense Beasts" – 3:11
20. "Five Golden Sections" – 2:53
21. "What a Day That Was" – 5:30
22. "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open)" – 4:43
23. "Light Bath" – 1:10

Personnel

Charts

Release history

References