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Talk Talk

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Talk Talk was an English band, formed in 1981 by the singer and songwriter Mark Hollis, the drummer Lee Harris, the bassist Paul Webb and the keyboard player Simon Brenner. They began as a synth-pop group and in their early years were often compared with Duran Duran. They had the same record company, EMI, and the same producer, Colin Thurston, and in 1982 they supported that band on tour. Their first album was called The Party's Over and appeared in 1982, with the singles Talk Talk and Today.

Music and breakthrough

After Brenner's departure the group became a trio, with the producer Tim Friese-Greene as Hollis's regular writing partner. The second album, It's My Life from 1984, made the band known above all in Europe, North America and New Zealand, with the singles It's My Life and Such a Shame. In England success remained modest. The Colour of Spring followed in 1986, with Life's What You Make It and Living in Another World. By then it was already clear that Hollis did not want to stay with the pop formula.

Influence

With Spirit of Eden in 1988 Talk Talk chose a completely different path. The music sounded spacious, quiet and unpredictable, influenced by jazz and improvisation, and became a forerunner of what is now called post-rock. The album was a commercial failure but won praise from critics. After a quarrel with EMI and a move to Polydor, the group made one more album in 1991, Laughing Stock, in the same spirit. After that it broke up. Hollis released one more solo album in 1998, disappeared from the music world and died in 2019. The leap from synth-pop to almost silent, acoustic music makes Talk Talk a remarkable example of a band that left its own success behind.

Listening

Listening tip. First listen to It's My Life by Talk Talk, and then to a passage from Spirit of Eden. Notice the difference in tempo, in instruments and in the space between the notes.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

See also

Categories: ArtistsPost-rock