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Contemporaries of Duran Duran, Talk Talk would go on, over the course of five increasingly ambitious albums, to transcend their synth-pop roots and play a pivotal role in the development of the ambient and post-rock genres.
Talk Talk were formed from the ashes of Mark Hollis’s The Reaction, who had split after just one 1978 single, I Can’t Resist. In 1981, singer-songwriter Hollis teamed up with Paul Webb (bass), Lee Harris (drums) and Simon Brenner (keyboards) to form the first line-up of Talk Talk, taking their name from an unreleased song by The Reaction. An impressive Radio 1 session earned them a deal with EMI. |
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After two singles – Mirror Man and Talk Talk – they released their debut album, The Party’s Over, in 1982, which spawned Top 20 hit Today. With the new romantic movement at its peak, EMI were keen to push the band in that direction, and they toured with labelmates Duran Duran. After the release of the My Foolish Friend single the following year, Brenner departed, to be replaced by unofficial fourth member and producer Tim Friese-Greene. This would be a pivotal moment in the band’s history, as Friese-Greene became Hollis’s writing partner and be instrumental in their evolution.
It’s My Life, released in 1984, was the breakthrough for Talk Talk, the title track making them huge stars in mainland Europe. The move away from new wave stylings to more organic-sounding natural instrumentation was completed by 1986’s bold The Colour Of Spring, their first UK Top 10 album.
Talk Talk then retired to a Suffolk studio for 14 months, going well over budget in the process, before resurfacing with Spirit Of Eden, which found Talk Talk defying easy categorisation as they branched out into jazz and ambient. To the frustration of EMI - already dismayed at the band's move away from commercial territory - they refused to tour or sanction the release of any singles, and the album reached a disappointing Number 19.
The relationship between the band and EMI had deteriorated so far that the band went to court in an attempt to be freed from their contract, where they won. Having signed a two-album contract with Polydor, they released Laughing Stock in 1991 and then split.
Hollis released a self-titled solo album in 1998 that continued in the same vein, while a live Talk Talk album followed the following year.
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The Party’s Over
EMI, 1982
First album finds them in thrall to new romantic contemporaries.
Talk Talk’s 1982 debut album is very much of its day, with the more uptempo material of labelmates Duran Duran (My Own Way, for example) a key influence. Yes despite being so firmly rooted in the early-80s’ new romantic sound, The Party’s Over has enough moments of quality songwriting to still sound good today, Talk Talk, Mirror Man and Today all standing the test of time. Today was even a minor hit, reaching Number 14 in the UK.
Download: Talk Talk
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It’s My Life
EMI, 1984
Europe wakes up to Talk Talk’s appeal; UK doesn’t notice.
By the time of 1984’s It’s My Life, multi-instrumentalist Tim Friese-Greene was collaborating with main songwriter Mark Hollis and the improvement on that front is readily evident as they outflank their new romantic peers with an impressively diverse collection of songs. Although not a big success in the UK, It’s My Life became a big seller across Europe, thanks to a string of melodically potent hit singles: Dum Dum Girl, Such A Shame and the title track (later covered by Gwen Stefani).
Download: Such A Shame
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The Colour Of Spring
EMI, 1986
Hollis’s bold vision comes to fruition.
The international success of It’s My Life led EMI to allow Talk Talk far greater scope to record the album they wanted, which was a move that paid off. Falling between the immediacy of its predecessor and the dazzlingly ground-breaking genre-blurring of its successor, The Colour Of Spring finds Talk Talk pursuing more organic song structures and creating their strongest album to date. Single Life’s What You Make It is the standout number, but Give It Up and Happiness Is Easy also impress.
Download: Life’s What You Make It
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Spirit Of Eden
EMI, 1988
Out go the hits, in comes post-rock.
Spirit Of Eden was Talk Talk’s great leap forward, casting aside their conventional hook-laden song structures in favour of an entirely new, loose genre, later dubbed post-rock, to the utter bemusement of their record label, EMI. Drawing in ambient sound textures, jazz influences and avant-garde nuances – and with its 41 minutes split between just six songs – Spirit Of Eden sounded revolutionary, albeit commercially suicidal with its blend of Miles Davis and Brain Eno. That it would go on to be a key influence on OK Computer merely emphasises its importance.
Download: I Believe In You
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Laughing Stock
Polydor, 1991
Swansong effort continues where Spirit Of Eden left off.
Undeterred by Spirit Of Eden’s relatively indifferent sales, Talk Talk delved further into the avant-garde with their fifth album, and their first for Polydor. Once again, the six songs are long and sonically complex, full of jazz and ambient inflections but ultimately unclassifiable. The album’s centrepiece is the monumental, feedback-laced After The Flood, while the jazzy Ascension Day also stands out. Released on the cusp of the Madchester and grunge scenes, Laughing Stock never stood a chance of chart success, and was a commercial flop.
Download: After The Flood
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» CONTENDERS 30 TO 21
» CONTENDERS 21 TO 10
» CONTENDERS 10 TO 1
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