Talk Talk

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Biography

Talk Talk were an English musical group, active from 1981 to 1991. The group had a string of international hit singles including "Today", " Talk Talk (song)|Talk Talk ", " It's My Life (Talk Talk song)|It's My Life ", " Such a Shame ", "Dum Dum Girl", " Life's What You Make It (Talk Talk song)|Life's What You Make It " and "Living in Another World".

In their later years the band's commercial appeal receded, but their critical reputation increased as they moved from synthpop to a more experimental form. Their final two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock (album)|Laughing Stock , were highly acclaimed and remain influential to experimental alternative rock genres, especially post-rock .

History

Beginnings and first successes (1981–1983)

Talk Talk began as a quartet consisting of Mark Hollis (English musician)|Mark Hollis (vocals), Simon Brenner (keyboards), Lee Harris (musician)|Lee Harris (drums) and Paul Webb (bass guitar). In their early years, they were generally associated with the New Romantic movement; more specifically, they were often compared with Duran Duran , as both bands sported a name which was a single word repeated, a Roxy Music -inspired musical direction, and shared the same record label ( EMI ) and producer ( Colin Thurston ). The band also supported Duran Duran on tour in late 1981.

The band released their first single, "Mirror Man", on EMI in February 1982. The single was not a success, but was quickly followed by their Talk Talk (song)|self-titled single in April 1982 which reached No.52 in the UK. The band's first album, entitled '' The Party's Over (Talk Talk album)|The Party's Over '', was released in July 1982. The band had their first UK Top 40 hits with the singles "Today" (UK #14) and a re-release of " Talk Talk (song)|Talk Talk " (UK #23). These singles also were hits in some other countries including Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand. The album itself was not a huge success in the UK upon release (reaching No.21), but was later certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry|BPI for sales of 60,000 copies by 1985. However, it was a Top 10 hit in New Zealand.

They were introduced to a much wider live audience in October 1982 when they supported Genesis (band)|Genesis at their reunion concert in Milton Keynes Bowl, England.

Brenner left after the 1983 non-LP single "My Foolish Friend", which was produced by frequent Roxy Music collaborator Rhett Davies . At this point, the band replaced Brenner with unofficial fourth member Tim Friese-Greene , who became Talk Talk's keyboard player, record producer|producer , and Hollis' frequent songwriting partner. Although a major contributor to the band's studio output, Friese-Greene did not regularly play with the band during live shows or appear in publicity material.

Worldwide success (1984–1986)

Talk Talk achieved considerable international success in 1984/85, particularly in continental Europe , with the album '' It's My Life (album)|It's My Life . The accompanying single "Such a Shame" (a song inspired by the book The Dice Man '') became a Top 5 hit in Austria , Germany , Italy and Switzerland during this period. The title track of the album was also a top 10 hit in Italy, and made the U.S., Canadian , France|French , German, New Zealand and Netherlands Top 40 , and a third single, "Dum Dum Girl", was a success in some European countries and in New Zealand, though the record album|LP and its single (music)|single s were largely ignored in their native UK.

The artist James Marsh (artist)|James Marsh designed the first cover image for ''It's My Life'' based on the band's name. He followed the theme for subsequent singles, remaining the band's artistic frontman and creating all their covers and posters throughout their career.

They eventually abandoned the New Wave style completely with The Colour of Spring in 1986. This became their biggest studio album success in the UK, making the Top 10 (and certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry|BPI for sales over 100,000 copies), in part due to the Top 20 single "Life's What You Make It". The album was also a hit internationally, featuring another Top 40 single, "Living in Another World". By this time, all Talk Talk songs were being written by Hollis and Friese-Greene. Guests on the album included Steve Winwood .

The extended line-up for the 1986 tour consisted of Hollis, Webb and Harris plus John Turnbull (musician)|John Turnbull (guitars), Rupert Black and Ian Curnow (keyboards), Phil Reis and Leroy Williams (percussion) and Mark Feltham (musician)|Mark Feltham (harmonica). Most notable among these concerts was the Montreux Jazz Festival , released on DVD in 2008 as Live at Montreux 1986 .

Later period (1988–1991)

The success of The Colour of Spring afforded the band a bigger budget and schedule for the recording of their next album. About a year in the making, and featuring contributions from many outside musicians, Spirit of Eden was released in 1988, on EMI's Parlophone label. The album was assembled from many hours of improvised instrumentation that Hollis and Friese-Greene had edited and arranged using digital equipment. The result was a mix of rock, jazz, classical, and ambient music. While critically praised, the album was not as commercially viable as its predecessors (though it was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry|BPI for sales of over 60,000 copies). Although the album made the UK Top 20 upon release, the band declared they would not tour in support of it.

During the making of Spirit of Eden , Talk Talk manager Keith Aspden had attempted to free the band from their recording contract with EMI . "I knew by that time that EMI was not the company this band should be with", Aspden said. "I was fearful that the money wouldn't be there to record another album."Irvin, "Paradise Regained", 54. EMI, however, wished to keep the band on their roster.Neiss. After many months of litigation, the band ultimately succeeded in extracting themselves from the contract. EMI then sued the band, claiming that Spirit of Eden was not "commercially satisfactory", but the case was thrown out of court.Tape Op

With the band now released from EMI, the label released the retrospective compilation Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk|Natural History in 1990. It peaked at number 3 on the UK album chart and was certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry|BPI for sales of over 100,000 copies. It was also an international success and eventually went on to sell more than 1 million copies worldwide. The 1984 single "It's My Life" was also re-released, and this time became the band's highest charting single in their native country, reaching number 13 on the UK Singles Chart . A re-release of the single "Life's What You Make It" also reached the Top 30. Following up on this renewed popular interest in the band, the label then released History Revisited in 1991, a compilation of 12 inch singles and alternative versions which made the UK Top 40, an unusually high placing for what was effectively a remixes album (it also reached the Netherlands Top 75). The band sued EMI for releasing the remixed material without their permission.Buckley, Peter. "The rough guide to rock". Rough Guides, 2003. vii. ISBN 1-84353-105-4

In 1990, Talk Talk signed a two-album contract with Polydor Records . They released Laughing Stock (album)|Laughing Stock on Polydor's Verve Records imprint in 1991. By this time, Webb had left the group and Talk Talk had morphed into what was essentially a brand name for the recording studio|studio sound recording and reproduction|recordings of Hollis and Friese-Greene, along with a bevy of session studio players (including long-term Talk Talk drummer Harris, who featured intermittently). Laughing Stock crystallised the experimental sound the band started with Spirit of Eden (which has been retroactively categorised as " post-rock " by some critics). Laughing Stock adopted an even more minimalist style than its predecessor, and peaked at #26 in the UK Albums Chart .

Breakup

After Laughing Stock , Talk Talk disbanded in 1992, as Hollis wished to focus on his children. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis Paul Webb rejoined Lee Harris, and the two went on to form the band .O.rang , while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Tim Friese-Greene|Heligoland . In 1998, Mark Hollis released his self-titled solo début Mark Hollis (album)|Mark Hollis , which was very much in keeping with the minimalist post-rock sound of Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock . Hollis retired from the music industry shortly afterwards.

Webb also collaborated under the name of Rustin Man with Portishead (band)|Portishead lead singer Beth Gibbons and released Out of Season (album)|Out of Season in 2002, while Lee Harris featured on the Bark Psychosis 2004 album, Codename: Dustsucker|///Codename: Dustsucker .

Legacy and Influence

Talk Talk's influence upon musicians has exceeded the band's visibility among the general public. Along with the band Slint , Talk Talk are credited with inventing post-rock in their last two albums, Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock . http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/post-rock-d2682 Sigur Rós has played Talk Talk songs before their shows.

Bands and artists that have claimed to be influenced by and/or a fan of Talk Talk include Portishead (band)|Portishead , http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis Bark Psychosis , http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis Catherine Wheel , http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis Lights (musician)|Lights , Radiohead http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis and DJ Shadow . http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/feb/28/talk-talk-mark-hollis The band Weezer covered their song "Life's What You Make It" and No Doubt scored a hit with a cover of "It's My Life" in 2003. John Taylor of Duran Duran also has expressed fondness for the group; Talk Talk opened for Duran Duran back in 1982.

Discography

'' The Party's Over (Talk Talk album)|The Party's Over (1982)

'' It's My Life (album)|It's My Life (1984)

The Colour of Spring (1986)

Spirit of Eden (1988)

Laughing Stock (album)|Laughing Stock (1991)

Videography

Live at Montreux 1986 (DVD)

Copyright Citations

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Talk Talk Photo by: www.ultra-pop.org


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