Having survived several years of art and design school, Talking Heads have developed a finely honed sense of the absurd. Being on the rock ’n’ roll road most of the year, God knows they need it. And their arrival at a funky-but-chic record store extravaganza in Chicago last summer sorely tested the patience of even the most unflappable road veteran.

The band plunged into the fray, cheerily swapping stories with their fans and autographing albums, while two urchins in white face make-up hovered nearby, their heads bobbing above a table decorated with wine bottles and rubber fruit.