A Letter From the Publisher

By Richard B. Thomas

When TIME decided to do a cover story on David Byrne, the eclectic leader of the rock group Talking Heads and director of the new movie True Stories, the magazine's editors decided to let the artist have a piece of the action. The result: this week's cover, a Byrne self-portrait whose multicolored panels provide an excellent representation, says TIME's executive art director Nigel Holmes, "of someone who is a man of many parts."

Only once before, when Artist Robert Rauschenberg created a collage for an account of his work in 1976, has TIME allowed the subject of a story to execute his own cover portrait. In this case, says Holmes, the project seemed a "natural." Byrne attended the Rhode Island School of Design, and has influenced many of the images associated with Talking Heads, from album ) covers to Stop Making Sense, their 1984 movie. Explains Holmes: "We couldn't think of anybody who could do a better cover on David Byrne than Byrne himself."

The artist produced two self-portraits in addition to the one chosen for the cover (see photos). In the end the editors selected the paneled version because they thought it was the simplest and most powerful. "Magazine covers should be posters," says Holmes. "This image fulfills that perfectly. It's attractive, colorful and intriguing."

TIME Contributor Jay Cocks, who originally proposed a piece on Byrne and then wrote this week's main story, first heard Byrne's music about ten years ago when he was awakened one night by a mysterious tune playing on a stereo, then discovered that the Manhattan loft he was in was burning down. The song: Byrne's Love Goes to a Building on Fire. Reporter-Researcher Elizabeth Bland, who assisted Cocks with the story, interviewed the musician-director several times in New York City. Bland says her initial fears about Byrne's daunting reserve were dissolved by the singer's dry wit. In Texas, Houston Bureau Chief Richard Woodbury attempted to hunt down the offbeat characters who played themselves in True Stories, including a man with dancing goldfish.

For TIME's art department, one of the nicest things about this week's project was that the artist turned in his work on time. "Byrne came across as a consummate professional graphic designer," says Holmes. We think readers will agree that the Renaissance man of rock and movies can add magazine covers to his growing list of accomplishments.