Little Creatures is the sixth studio album by the American rock band Talking Heads, released on June 10, 1985, by Sire Records. The album examines themes of Americana and incorporates elements of country music, with many songs featuring steel guitar. It was voted album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll, and is the band's best-selling studio album, with more than two million copies sold in the United States. The cover art was created by outsider artist Howard Finster, and was selected as album cover of the year by Rolling Stone.
Track listing
Personnel
Talking Heads
- David Byrne – vocals, guitars
- Chris Frantz – drums
- Jerry Harrison – keyboards, guitars, vocals
- Tina Weymouth – bass guitar, vocals
Additional musicians
- Ellen Bernfeld – backing vocals (tracks 5, 7)
- Andrew Cader – washboard (track 9)
- Erin Dickens – backing vocals (tracks 8, 9)
- Diva Gray – backing vocals (track 9)
- Gordon Grody – backing vocals
- Lani Groves – backing vocals
- Jimmy Macdonell – accordion (tracks 9)
- Lenny Pickett – saxophones
- Steve Scales – percussion
- Naná Vasconcelos – percussion (track 5)
- Eric Weissberg – steel guitar (tracks 3, 7)
- Kurt Yahjian – backing vocals
Recording
- Jack Skinner – mastering
- Eric Thorngren – engineer, mixing
- Melanie West – second engineer
Charts
Weekly charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Little Creatures
! scope="col" | Chart (1985)
! scope="col" | Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 2
|-
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row" | European Albums (Music & Media)
| 14
|-
! scope="row" | Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 37
|-
|-
! scope="row" | Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)
| 22
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|-
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weekly chart performance for Little Creatures
! scope="col" | Chart (2023)
! scope="col" | Peak<br />position
|-
! scope="row" | Croatian International Albums (HDU)
| 3
|-
! scope="row" | Hungarian Physical Albums (MAHASZ)
| 12
|-
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ 1985 year-end chart performance for Little Creatures
! scope="col" | Chart (1985)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 7
|-
! scope="row" | Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)
| 57
|-
! scope="row" | Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| 39
|-
! scope="row" | German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)
| 47
|-
! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 5
|-
! scope="row" | UK Albums (Gallup)
| 77
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ 1986 year-end chart performance for Little Creatures
! scope="col" | Chart (1986)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 17
|-
! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 12
|-
! scope="row" | UK Albums (Gallup)
| 59
|}
Decade-end charts
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Decade-end chart performance for Little Creatures
! scope="col" | Chart (1980–1989)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| align="center" | 21
|}