Talk Talk were a band who between 1982 and 1991 released a series of five increasingly esoteric and unclassifiable albums. From a humble and inauspicious synth-drenched debut they evolved into a band with a unique sound that, by the time of Spirit of Eden, defied genre pigeonholes.

The group formed around a nucleus of drummer Lee Harris, bassist Paul Webb (born 1962), and singer and chief songwriter Mark Hollis (born 1955). Previously Mark had been in the band The Reaction, who released one single in 1978 - 'I Can't Resist'. Talk Talk gathered when Mark Hollis was offered some studio time to demo his song writing in 1981. His brother Ed Hollis (who co-wrote the track 'Talk Talk') found Lee and Paul, and along with keyboard player Simon Brenner, the band's demo material and a couple of gigs secured them a session on Radio One, and a subsequent deal with EMI.

The Party's Over

The first Talk Talk album was released in 1982 and suffered from EMI's desire to push the band in the New Romantic direction - demonstrated by the assignment of Duran Duran producer Colin Thurston to the album. The result sounds incredibly dated now - the motto of the production appearing to be 'why use a real instrument when there is a crude-sounding synthesised version available?'. Only the title track and 'Candy' escaped with a treatment that comes anywhere close to realising the potential of Mark's song writing. This is one of those albums that is difficult to love, unless you loved it when it first came out.

It's My Life

The 1984 follow-up had much more to offer and marked the beginning of the relationship between Mark Hollis and producer Tim Friese-Green which did so much to shape the future Talk Talk sound. Singles like the title track, 'Such a Shame'¹ and 'Dum Dum Girl' almost reached the public consciousness, while album tracks like 'Renee' and 'Tomorrow's Started' allowed the band to take their first tentative steps towards a quieter, less brash, sound.

Review:
Albums in the 80s

The Colour Of Spring

In 1986, The Colour Of Spring finally introduced a much more organic Talk Talk sound, with the focus shifting away from synthesisers towards more natural instruments. The album spawned a top 20 UK hit single with the first release 'Life's What You Make It'. This was followed by a succession of other releases, all available in the then obligatory plethora of formats and remixes.

Unbeknown to the rest of the world, it was the B-side of that first single - 'It's Getting Late In The Evening', and the quieter album tracks 'April 5th' and 'Chameleon Day', tracks which at the time seemed misfits, which showed the direction that Mark Hollis was intending to take the band in. These tracks featured very fluid arrangements and a degree of improvisation - elements shortly to come to the fore in the band's work. The Colour of Spring is easily Talk Talk's most accomplished album in a commercial sense, though artistically it was to be surpassed by its successor.

Review:
Albums in the 80s

Spirit Of Eden

This album marked a quantum leap forward for the band, and a further downturn in relations with their label. Released without a preceding single, Spirit of Eden defies genre, and defied marketing by EMI who released it instead on the Parlophone imprint. The label had not heard anything until the final mix was delivered, and were dismayed that the band had moved so far away from the potential commercial success they seemed poised for after The Colour of Spring.

It is not conventional rock or pop, yet neither is it entirely improvised jazz. Falling someway between these stools it is a densely arranged atmospheric album comprising six tracks, which can really only be described as 'pieces' rather than songs. The opening three tracks (or side one if you can remember the concept of vinyl LPs) merge into one suite. The combination of instruments is as diverse as the cor anglais, a dobro and whatever the hell shozygs² are. These are delicately balanced with the plaintive vocals of Hollis, an at times strident electric guitar, and the rhythm section of Lee and Paul. By now, all of the writing and arrangement credits were shared between Hollis and Friese-Green. It simply sounds like no other record ever released.

Review:
Must Hear

Laughing Stock

After an inevitable acrimonious split with EMI, Talk Talk released one further album of original material, this time on the Verve label. Laughing Stock was similar in mood to Spirit of Eden, yet if anything it was more impenetrable. Time signatures had moved far away from the 4/4 of pop, and closing track 'Runeii' is so slight as to almost not exist. Standout tracks 'After The Flood', 'Ascension Day' and 'New Grass' all feature long improvised sections. There was not a hint of a single or even radio-friendly track on the album - and the album suffers from sounding similar to its predecessor, yet lacking the shock value of the release of Spirit Of Eden.

Mark Hollis - Mark Hollis

A silence of seven years ensued from Mark, but he eventually emerged with an eponymous solo album. The feel was again similar to Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden - but the arrangements utilised more woodwind instruments than strings. Another major difference was that the collaboration was mostly between Mark and Warne Livesey, rather than with Tim Friese-Green. With no singles from the album and minimal promotional activity, the album mainly sold to hardcore fans and anyone attracted by the crass 'Formerly of Talk Talk' sticker helpfully slapped on the cover by the record label.

Reviews:
bennun.biz
Leonard's Lair

EMI Compilations

EMI's first compilation of Talk Talk material Natural History was an unexpected success, selling over a million copies, and EMI reissued 'Its My Life' as a single among others to promote it. Such was the success that they decided to extract more money from the catalogue by issuing the then in-vogue concept of a remix album. History Remixed is a travesty of a record, totally at odds with the mood and spirit of the band to the extent that they actually sued EMI.

Subsequently EMI have made available two other compilations. Very Best Of, which has a track listing including B-sides and album tracks which follows very effectively the progression of the band throughout their career, and A-Sides Besides - a double CD set that includes many of the band's best 12" mixes and b-sides. Both were welcome additions to the catalogue, although both bear the tell-tale signs of the lack of respect that EMI had shown for the band. One example is that the artwork for the A-Sides Besides compilation features pictures of sleeve artwork for many of the singles featured. However, it is obvious EMI hadn't retained any of the artwork as the pictures are clearly scanned in from actual records, with all the wear and tear that entails. This wouldn't have been so bad, if they had remembered to remove the Music and Video Exchange and other record shop price stickers clearly visible on the finished artwork.

Both compilations featured original artwork by James Marsh, who had illustrated Talk Talk's sleeves throughout their career. He made his feelings of the relationship between Talk Talk and EMI abundantly clear - the Very Best Of sleeve features a canary singing in its cage, and the b-sides and remixes compilation features a goose laying a golden egg, with a noose around neck. Both very apt metaphors for the way the band had been treated.

Review:
The Very Best of Talk Talk - NME

Pond Life Reissues

In recent years the Pond Life label was set up to reissue the Polydor Talk Talk and Mark Hollis catalogue, meaning that Laughing Stock and Mark Hollis are currently available. The label also issued Missing Pieces - this collected together the six tracks that Polydor had issued as a series of limited edition CD singles from Laughing Stock (including an alternate take of 'After The Flood' and two album session outtakes). Missing Pieces also featured 'Piano', an improvised piece of Mark playing, unsurprisingly, the piano. The label also issued a live album, entitled London 1986, which featured tracks from Talk Talk's last ever live appearance, promoting the Colour of Spring album.

Reviews and Information:
London 1986 - NME
Missing Pieces - Voiceprint
London 1986 / Missing Pieces / Asides Besides - Tiny Home Central

.O.Rang

Lee and Paul have subsequently worked as .O.Rang. Their first album Herd of Instinct charted similar improvised territory to Talk Talk, and featured contributions from guests like Graham Sutton of Bark Psychosis.

Paul has recently worked on a project with Beth Gibbons of Portishead. Using the moniker 'Rustin Man', Beth Gibbons and Rustin Man's Out of Season is, at the time of writing, a highly critically-acclaimed album.

Web Links

The best place to find current information about Mark Hollis and the other ex-members of Talk Talk is at Within Without. It is not updated frequently - mind you there isn't much news frequently now - but the .O.Rang section carries a section where Lee answers fans questions and keeps a diary of his recent projects.