Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube
    Nostalgia Central
    Banner
    • Home
    • Blog
      • Lists
      • Playlists
    • Television
      • Shows by Decade
        • 1950s Television
        • 1960s Television
        • 1970s Television
        • 1980s Television
        • 1990s Television
      • Shows by Genre
        • Comedy
        • Drama
        • Kids TV
        • Variety
        • News & Sport
        • Advertisements
      • Shows by Country
        • UK TV
        • USA TV
        • Australia & NZ TV
        • Canada TV
        • Europe TV
        • Japan TV
      • Shows A to K
        • Shows A
        • Shows B
        • Shows C
        • Shows D
        • Shows E
        • Shows F
        • Shows G
        • Shows H
        • Shows I
        • Shows J
        • Shows K
      • Shows L to Z
        • Shows L
        • Shows M
        • Shows N
        • Shows O
        • Shows P
        • Shows Q
        • Shows R
        • Shows S
        • Shows T
        • Shows U
        • Shows V
        • Shows W
        • Shows X
        • Shows Y
        • Shows Z
      • Shows 0 to 9
    • Music
      • Music by Decade
        • 1950s Music
        • 1960s Music
        • 1970s Music
        • 1980s Music
        • 1990s Music
      • Music A to K
        • Music A
        • Music B
        • Music C
        • Music D
        • Music E
        • Music F
        • Music G
        • Music H
        • Music I
        • Music J
        • Music K
      • Music L to Z
        • Music L
        • Music M
        • Music N
        • Music O
        • Music P
        • Music Q
        • Music R
        • Music S
        • Music T
        • Music U
        • Music V
        • Music W
        • Music X
        • Music Y
        • Music Z
      • Music 0 to 9
      • Genres
      • Music on Film & TV
      • One-Hit Wonders
      • Online Radio
    • Movies
      • Movies by Decade
        • 1950s Movies
          • Movies 1950
          • Movies 1951
          • Movies 1952
          • Movies 1953
          • Movies 1954
          • Movies 1955
          • Movies 1956
          • Movies 1957
          • Movies 1958
          • Movies 1959
        • 1960s Movies
          • Movies 1960
          • Movies 1961
          • Movies 1962
          • Movies 1963
          • Movies 1964
          • Movies 1965
          • Movies 1966
          • Movies 1967
          • Movies 1968
          • Movies 1969
        • 1970s Movies
          • Movies 1970
          • Movies 1971
          • Movies 1972
          • Movies 1973
          • Movies 1974
          • Movies 1975
          • Movies 1976
          • Movies 1977
          • Movies 1978
          • Movies 1979
        • 1980s Movies
          • Movies 1980
          • Movies 1981
          • Movies 1982
          • Movies 1983
          • Movies 1984
          • Movies 1985
          • Movies 1986
          • Movies 1987
          • Movies 1988
          • Movies 1989
        • 1990s Movies
          • Movies 1990
          • Movies 1991
          • Movies 1992
          • Movies 1993
          • Movies 1994
          • Movies 1995
          • Movies 1996
          • Movies 1997
          • Movies 1998
          • Movies 1999
      • Movies A to K
        • Movies A
        • Movies B
        • Movies C
        • Movies D
        • Movies E
        • Movies F
        • Movies G
        • Movies H
        • Movies I
        • Movies J
        • Movies K
      • Movies L to Z
        • Movies L
        • Movies M
        • Movies N
        • Movies O
        • Movies P
        • Movies Q
        • Movies R
        • Movies S
        • Movies T
        • Movies U
        • Movies V
        • Movies W
        • Movies X
        • Movies Y
        • Movies Z
      • Movies 0 to 9
    • Pop Culture
      • Fads
      • Toys & Games
      • Fashion
      • Decor
      • Food & Drink
      • People
      • Radio
      • Technology
      • Transport
    • Social History
      • 1950s Year by Year
      • 1960s Year by Year
      • 1970s Year by Year
      • 1980s Year by Year
      • 1990s Year by Year
      • Events
    Nostalgia Central
    Home»Music»Music by Decade»1980s Music
    1980s Music Music T 3 Mins Read

    Talk Talk

    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email

    Talk Talk began their career in 1981 as a synth-pop new wave band who looked pretty and sounded slick and shuffled gawkily around the New Romantic fringes – they were certainly dark and synthy enough to interest the New Romantic crowd but far too interested in jazz to merit actual New Romantic status – scoring hits with Talk Talk, Mirror Man and Today, and touring with EMI stable-mates Duran Duran.

    Clapping eyes on Talk Talk in 1982 – all skinny ties and hair-sprayed wedges – the word ‘influential’ would not have sprung to mind.

    They were generally considered – if considered at all – a duller Xerox of the Brummie dandies.

    talktalk

    Guitarist and singer Mark Hollis reorganised the line-up while recording their second album, 1984’s It’s My Life, and while it was slightly more experimental than their previous album – a little more like Roxy Music than Duran Duran –  it still followed traditional pop structures. Nevertheless, the LP charted all around the world.

    Then they appeared to wake up one day as a grown-up band, just in time for their third album, 1986’s The Colour Of Spring. They lost keyboard player Simon Brenner and employed the services of producer Tim Friese-Greene – an experimental foil for the emotional songwriting of Hollis.

    Next, Hollis and Friese-Greene broke up the band’s previously inflexible format, augmenting drummer Lee Harris and bassist Paul Webb with a host of guest players, including Steve Winwood, bassist Danny Thompson, and Pretenders guitarist Robbie McIntosh.

    The Colour Of Spring was a revelation. Hollis’s emotionally bruised mumble implored on an album loaded with rainy-day melancholia, including the maudlin hit Life’s What You Make It.

    talktalk_02The follow-up, Spirit Of Eden (1988), recorded in near darkness in a former church in North London, reputedly reduced their A&R man to tears when he realised how bereft of potential singles it was.

    With more pregnant pauses, splashes of colour and layers of sleepy angst, it was a beautiful-sounding record but not quite the equal of its predecessor. It proved to be a commercial disaster (the ambitious side-long The Rainbow was effectively a sonata) and led to EMI dropping the band.

    Talk Talk sued. EMI counter-sued, then put out a Greatest Hits and a remix atrocity, History Revisited, that Hollis blocked in court. To then pile irony on top of insult, Talk Talk were nominated for a Best Newcomer Brit Award.

    Talk Talk then signed with Polydor Records, releasing Laughing Stock in 1991. Their champion at the label, David Munns, reportedly had to leave the room the first time he heard the record. Talk Talk was over.

    Bassist Paul Webb and drummer Lee Harris underwent a year of therapy (“we did a lot of flotation tanks, a lot of rebuilding”). The pair eventually worked together again as .O.rang for two albums and later reunited on Webb’s Rustin Man project with Beth Gibbons from Portishead.

    Mark Hollis spent several years teaching himself to play the clarinet and learning to score for woodwind before entering the studio again to make the album initially intended as Mountains of the Moon – the second Talk Talk album in the Polydor deal – but released in 1998 as a solo album. Sales were modest, and the album was deleted within a year.

    Mark Hollis
    Vocals
    Simon Brenner

    Keyboards
    Paul Webb

    Bass
    Lee Harris

    Drums
    Ian Curnow
    Keyboards
    Robbie McIntosh
    Guitar

    Related Posts

    • Screaming Blue Messiahs, The
      Screaming Blue Messiahs, The
      The Screaming Blue Messiahs came preachin' out of London in 1983 with a bible full of blues, rock 'n' roll,…
    • gogos008
      Go-Go's, The
      The Go-Go's formed in 1978 as The Misfits - The line-up, at the time, consisted of Belinda Carlisle (vocals), Jane…
    • hunters22
      Hunters and Collectors
      Hunters and Collectors formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1981, fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour and taking their name from…
    • reallife007
      Real Life
      Guitarist/vocalist Dave Sterry and synthesizer player/violinist Richard Zatorski had been members of the final line-up of 70's Australian band Kush.…
    • duranduran004
      Duran Duran
      The band that most surely have come closest to being The Beatles of their day, since (like The Beatles) they were a…
    • newromantics00
      New Romantic
      Each decade of popular music so far has its merits and its embarrassments. But perhaps the most derided of them…
    • kajagoogoo
      Kajagoogoo
      Kajagoogoo began life as a prog rock band called Art Nouveau - and then they met singer Chris Hamill who rearranged the…
    • Church, The
      Church, The
      From the release of their She Never Said single in November 1980, this unique Canberra-born, Sydney-based band produced a distinctive,…

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp Reddit Email
    Previous ArticleTyla Gang, The
    Next Article Hitmen, The

    Comments are closed.

    NC Radio Player
    Search the site
    Nostalgia Central has been a labour of love since 1998. The site carries no advertising, and I rely on donations to help with running costs and to keep the site running for your entertainment and education.

    If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation – no matter how small.
    Thank you so much. Enjoy your trip in the time machine!
    You may also like

    • psychedelicfurs002
      Psychedelic Furs
      The birth of the Psychedelic Furs came in 1977 when London art college student Richard Butler grew tired of silk-screening, persuaded…
    • fairgroundattraction003
      Fairground Attraction
      Formed in Glasgow in 1986 by guitarist Mark Nevin (who had played in one of the numerous lineups of Jane…
    • visage003
      Visage
      Poster boys for the New Romantic movement until Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran came along, took their ball and ran off with it, Steve Strange's Visage…
    • arcadia005
      Arcadia
      During Duran Duran's "gap year" (1985), Arcadia was the girly yin to the macho yang of Power Station, and - surprise, surprise…


    Nostalgia Central covers the period 1950 to 1999 and contains some words and references which reflect the attitudes of those times and which may be considered culturally sensitive, offensive or inappropriate today.
    Copyright © 1998, 2023 Nostalgia Central. Run by volunteers. Funded by donations.
    • About Nostalgia Central
    • Contact
    • FAQ

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.