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.[3][4]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 and notably in the groundbreaking film featuring many edited video images of the ‘ordinary and extraordinary’ accompanied with filming of their Wembley Arena “Once in a Lifetime” concert 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.