Although Tom Tom Club started out as merely a side project for the Talking Heads' Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz, the dance music of the forward-thinking group has endured long past what everyone thought would be just a few hit singles. "Genius of Love," with its hybrid of funk, reggae and soul sounds, remains what the group is best known for, although all of their music is nearly as retro yet futuristic as dance music can be. Tom Tom Club continues to produce airy dance tunes that eclipse the group's former "side project" title.

Chris Franz and Tina Weymouth of the Talking Heads began making the light dance music that is Tom Tom Club in between Talking Heads records, securing a gold album for the supposed side project with Tom Tom Club in 1981 (which spawned the hit single "Genius of Love") and touring as Tom Tom Club in the summer of 1989, but eventually took on the project full time when the Heads broke up in 1991. Tom Tom Club issued Dark Sneak Love Action in 1992 but soon the pair parted ways to concentrate on other projects. Franz and Weymouth found their way back together via a Talking Head reunion (minus David Byrne) and regrouped after eight years apart. The resulting album, 2000's The Good the Bad and the Funky, was followed by a live album the following year. In 2002 Tom Tom Club released the double-disc Live & the Clubhouse, which boasted songs from their 2000 album as well as some new songs and old favorites, such as one from 1983's Close to the Bone. Tom Tom Club also breathed some new life into their biggest hit, "Genius of Love," on their most recent album, making a live version that sounds better than the earlier studio track.