Talk Talk

Formed in 1981, this UK pop group comprised Mark Hollis (b. 1955, Tottenham, London, England; vocals), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), Simon Brenner (keyboards). They were soon signed to EMI who were intent on moulding them into the same league as stablemates Duran Duran. In fact they could not have been more different. They went along with their company's ideas for the first album which produced a number of hit singles including, Talk Talk and Today. Labelled as a ‘New Romantic’ band, they were very keen to shake off the tag and dismissed their keyboard player to make them a looser, more flexible creative unit. For the next couple of years Hollis spent the time writing new material and assembling a pool of musicians to record a second album. The format was repeated with the highly accessible THE COLOUR OF SPRING, both records were critically acclaimed and showed the band as a more creative and imaginative act than their debut had suggested. It was their fourth album SPIRIT OF EDEN that showed their true musical preferences. A solemn six-track record, it had no commercial appeal, and no obvious single. Its poor showing led to EMI dropping the band who signed with Polydor. It was three years before a new studio album appeared, and to fill in the gap a greatest hits compilation was issued without the band's permission. It nevertheless managed to sell over a million copies and give them three more hit singles. Ironically, their biggest success so far was an EMI reissue of their previous hit Its My Life. LAUGHING STOCK picked up where they had left off although to date they have failed to match the catchy commercial appeal of THE COLOUR OF SPRING.

 

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