‘STOP MAKING SENSE’ GETS TO TOWN

One of 1984’s most acclaimed films is finally opening here, and while it’s not an Oscar nominee, it’s easily the movie of the year for fans of new wave rock.

“Stop Making Sense” is director Jonathan Demme’s intense chronicle of the innovative band Talking Heads--and its visionary leader, David Byrne--in concert. It begins its run Friday at the Fine Arts Theater, 1818 Garnet Ave. in Pacific Beach.

The film has won raves from New York and Los Angeles critics, but has been slow to open in smaller markets, though not for lack of demand. Demme said in a telephone interview that the film was shot for a mere $1 million and has grossed about $5 million. “And there are still an awful lot of places for it to open. And we haven’t made any deals for the videocassette or cable-TV rights yet.

“The whole idea is to exert a form of quality control,” said Demme, explaining that the film won’t be booked into any but the most congenial movie houses--that is, ones equipped with sound systems worthy of the film’s superior Dolby stereo and digital mix.

Demme is a young director with a small string of major credits under his belt--from the critical success “Melvin and Howard” to the more recent (and less successful) Goldie Hawn vehicle “Swing Shift.” He acknowledges that live rock is typically resistant to successful full-length film treatment, but says Talking Heads is not a typical band.

“I’m a rock fanatic, and I’ve seen hundreds of live shows all over the world,” said Demme, who next will shoot an eight-minute rock video for the British act New Order. “And precious few bands can really support 90 minutes of attention. But the Heads are so ultra-interesting to watch, and David Byrne is a living phenomenon who has to be experienced. He’s a full-blown original, and I just knew that was going to work for the movie. I knew that for people who had never seen Talking Heads, this film would be an instant revelation.”

It also goes against the grain of the typical “rock-u-mentary.” There are precious few reaction shots of the audience, and no pseudo-intimate backstage business. Mainly, the film is a frontal exploration of a band at work. Why so?

“For practical reasons, when we were editing, we had so much great footage, why cut to the audience? And then there’s a more subtle reason for not showing the crowd--all that ever does is remind the movie viewers that they’re watching a filmed record of a concert. But this way it seems more a concert expressly for them. Our approach takes away that generation of distance, of having to look at the people who were really there.”

FEED THE WORLD: And speaking of new wave, “new music” radio station XTRA-FM (91X) is focusing upcoming promotional efforts toward raising money for victims of the African famine. Working with the local Project Concern, the station hopes to raise $191,000 during the month of April through a variety of activities, highlighted by a 56-hour “Feed the World Radiothon,” scheduled to start at noon April 12.

Steve West, 91X music director and afternoon deejay who helped stage a similar radiothon more than 10 years ago in his native England, said the round-the-clock broadcast will attempt to raise money not only by accepting pledges for songs, but by auctioning off objects and services.

“We want to involve our personalities as much as we can,” he said. “If people want a deejay to come over to their house for an afternoon and clean up, they can bid for it; we also plan to auction off rock star memorabilia, like maybe Billy Idol’s underwear.”

Other fund-raising efforts during April, West said, will include benefit concerts by local bands and various other projects he and promotions director Rob Tonkin have yet to devise.

ARTBEATS: The San Diego Opera has appointed Jerry Hutter, a former Florida accountant and businessman, to the newly created position of business manager. Hutter will oversee the opera’s financial operations and act as administrative chief when general director Ian Campbell is out of town . . . On Friday, Horton Plaza officials will formally announce the artworks--by renowned artists Loren Madsen, Judy Pfaff and Peter Alexander--commissioned for the plaza’s August opening . . .

Acclaimed jazz pianist Michel Petrucciani and his trio perform Saturday at Encinitas’ La Paloma Theater, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Only 21, Petrucciani has risen to prominence in the jazz world despite an awful handicap--a disease called osteogenesis imperfecta--that has left him weighing only 50 pounds and less than three feet tall . . . Balboa Park’s Museum of Photographic Arts has received more than 100 images from the world-famous daguerreotype collection of Dr. Stanley B. Burns. These early photographs, shot between 1840 and 1860, include some portraits by Matthew Brady and generally are in excellent condition.