Talk Talk
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Such a Shame" was inspired by Luke Rhinehart's The Dice Man, one of composer Mark Hollis' favourite books. When asked what drove him to respond to Rhinehart's book, Hollis replied, "A good book, not a lifestyle I'd recommend." --Sholem Stein |
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Talk Talk were an English rock band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles "Talk Talk" (1982), "It's My Life" and "Such a Shame" (both 1984) before moving towards more experimental music in the mid-1980s, pioneering what became known as post-rock. Talk Talk achieved widespread critical success, while selling records in Europe and the UK with the singles "Life's What You Make It" (1985) and "Living in Another World" (1986), and in 1988 they released their fourth album Spirit of Eden, which was critically acclaimed yet commercially less successful.
Friction with the band's label, EMI, resulted in legal action and countersuing. Webb departed, and the band switched to Polydor for their final album, 1991's Laughing Stock, but split soon afterwards. Singer Mark Hollis released one solo album in 1998 before retiring from the music industry. The band's founding bass player and drummer, Paul Webb and Lee Harris, played in several bands together; long-term collaborator Tim Friese-Greene continued in the business as a musician and producer. Talk Talk saw a mild resurgence in popularity after the band No Doubt covered "It's My Life" in 2003.
Discography
Studio albums
| Year | Title | Chart positions | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | US | AT | CA | FRA | ES | GER | ITA | NL | NO | NZ | AUS | SWE | SWI | FIN | BE | |||||||||||
| 1982 | The Party's Over | 21 | 132 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 8 | 94 | 47 | – | – | – | |||||||||
| 1984 | It's My Life | 35 | 42 | – | 59 | 12 | – | 4 | 10 | 3 | – | 27 | – | 49 | 2 | – | – | |||||||||
| 1986 | The Colour of Spring | 8 | 58 | 16 | 14 | – | 5 | 11 | 8 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 71 | 25 | 3 | 15 | 9 | |||||||||
| 1988 | Spirit of Eden | 19 | – | – | – | – | – | 16 | 30 | 32 | – | – | – | – | 12 | – | 3 | |||||||||
| 1991 | Laughing Stock | 26 | – | – | – | 26 | – | – | – | 60 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | |||||||||
Live albums
- London 1986 (Hammersmith Odeon) (1998)
