TALKING HEADS

ONE of the finest bands to ever emerge from New York, Talking Heads rode the new wave to the top of the charts, leaving a legacy of great albums. Their last record, Naked, came in 1988, followed by a final single and an official break-up press release in 1991. Frontman David Byrne, who had taken increasing control of the band throughout their decades-spanning career, was pinpointed as the reason for the break-up. His bandmates made that clear when they reunited without him in 1996 as The Heads for the star-studded, non-Byrne album No Talking, Just Head. As is customary though, all four Talking Heads - Byrne, bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz and multi-instrumentalist Jerry Harrison - reunited for their induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002, performing Burning Down The House with a distinct lack of eye contact. Byrne ruled out a proper reunion, noting the "bad blood'' in the band but Weymouth put it more directly by describing Byrne as "a man incapable of returning friendship''.

SO UNDGARDEN

LEAD singer Chris Cornell has repeatedly stated his influential Seattle grunge band won't get back together but given his recent strike-rate, a Soundgarden reunion might be just what his career needs. But to his credit, Cornell has said his glory days with drummer Matt Cameron, guitarist Kim Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd are closed and Soundgarden's career should remain untouched. In the wake of his band Audioslave's break-up in 2007 and the other three members going back to reunite Rage Against The Machine, the reunion question came up again for Cornell. "I don't think it's something that will happen,'' he said, adding the other members hadn't mentioned it. "I'm really proud of (Soundgarden) and I guess that's why I have trepidation about the idea of reforming... (when we were together) we didn't want to mess it up and we managed to not (mess it up).''

FAITH NO MORE

ASIDE from Nirvana, few bands shaped the music of the '90s more than Faith No More. Their combination of funk, punk, rock, jazz and metal opened the door for bands such as Red Hot Chili Peppers, Linkin Park, Incubus and Korn, helped inspire nu-metal (which unfortunately brought about Limp Bizkit,) and their mega-selling single Epic was an alternative-rock crossover smash before Smells Like Teen Spirit. Mike Patton fronted the band from 1988 until their end in 1998 and his post-break-up view of FNM's legacy was dismissive. He seems to have chilled out on the matter, telling Artisan News Service early last year that he wouldn't rule out a reunion. Reports the band was reforming for Coachella this year proved untrue.

CREEDENC E CLEARWATER REVIVAL

TOWARDS the end of CCR's short but brilliant career (they put out six great albums in their first three years), there's was a serious bad moon rising. Trapped in what the band described as "the worst record deal of any major American recording artist'' and with growing animosity between members, rhythm guitarist Tom Fogerty quit, unable to work any longer under the dictatorial rule of his younger brother, frontman John. CCR called it a day after one last album in '72 (the disappointing Mardi Gras) but the bad blood didn't stop. Lawsuits between the band and its label Fantasy failed to help. John Fogerty refused to play CCR songs for 15 years saying it was too painful, and then lawsuits started flying back and forth between the members. Tom died in 1990, and the last time the Fogertys, drummer Doug Clifford and bassist Stu Cook all jammed together was at Tom's wedding in 1980. Another nail in the CCR reunion coffin came in 1993 when John barred Clifford, Cook and Tom's son from joining him on stage during the band's induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The final nail was when John sued Clifford and Cook for touring as Creedence Clearwater Revisited.