1981–1983: Formation Talk Talk began as a quartet consisting of
Mark Hollis, formerly from the Reaction (vocals/main songwriter),
Lee Harris (drums),
Paul Webb (bass guitar), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). In their early years they were often compared with
Duran Duran. In addition to a band name consisting of a repeated word, the two shared a
Roxy Music-inspired musical direction, as well as the same record label (
EMI) and producer (
Colin Thurston). The band also supported Duran Duran on tour in 1982. The band released their first single, "Mirror Man", on EMI in February 1982. The single was not a great success, but was quickly followed by their
self-titled single in April 1982 (a rerecording of a track by the Reaction), which reached No. 52 in the UK. The band's first album, ''
The Party's Over'', was released in July 1982. They had their first UK
Top 40 hits with the singles "
Today" (UK No. 14) and a re-release of "
Talk Talk" (UK No. 23). These singles were also hits in other countries, including Ireland, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. The re-release of the "Talk Talk" single reached the US Top 75. The album was produced by
Colin Thurston, who was Duran Duran's in-house EMI producer at the time, but picked by Hollis because of his involvement with
David Bowie's
Heroes. It was a moderate success in the UK reaching No. 21, and was later certified Silver by the
BPI for sales of 60,000 copies by 1985. It was a Top 10 hit in New Zealand. Brenner left after the 1983 non-LP hit single "My Foolish Friend", which was produced by frequent Roxy Music collaborator
Rhett Davies. At this point, Talk Talk were a trio, as Brenner was never officially replaced.
Tim Friese-Greene was recruited to assist with the recording of their second album, ''
It's My Life'', and he became the band's producer, keyboardist, and Hollis' songwriting partner. Although a major contributor to the band's studio output and a de facto fourth member, Friese-Greene never officially joined the band. As such, he did not play with the touring band on live dates, and was absent from the band's publicity material.
1984–1986: Commercial success Although major success eluded them in the UK, Talk Talk achieved considerable international success in 1984/85, particularly in continental Europe, North America and New Zealand, with the album ''
It's My Life. The accompanying single "Such a Shame" (inspired by the book The Dice Man'') became a Top 10 hit in Austria, Italy, France, Germany,
Netherlands and
Switzerland during this period. The title track of the album entered the US, Canadian, French, German, New Zealand and Netherlands Top 40. A third single, "Dum Dum Girl", was a success in some European countries and in New Zealand, but the album and its singles were largely ignored in the UK. Commercial success notwithstanding, the band made deliberate choices that moved them away from the mainstream. The music video for "It's My Life" featured a grumpy Hollis who mocks lip-synching. After EMI protested, they re-shot the video, turning it into "a total piss-take of lip-synching", in
Alan McGee's words. The artist
James Marsh designed the first cover image for ''It's My Life'' based on the band's name. He followed the theme for subsequent singles, remaining the band's artistic frontman and creating all their covers and posters throughout their career. Talk Talk abandoned the
synth-pop style completely with their third album, 1986's
The Colour of Spring. It became their biggest success in the UK, making the Top 10 (and certified Gold by the
BPI for sales over 100,000 copies), in part due to the Top 20 single "
Life's What You Make It", which was also successful internationally. Another single, "
Living in Another World", charted in the Top 40 in Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy, and just outside the Top 40 in the UK and France. By this time, all Talk Talk songs were being written by Hollis and Friese-Greene. The extended line-up for the 1986 tour consisted of Hollis, Webb and Harris, plus
John Turnbull (guitars), Rupert Black and Ian Curnow (keyboards), Phil Reis and Leroy Williams (percussion), and
Mark Feltham (harmonica). Most notable among these concerts was their appearance at the
Montreux Jazz Festival, 11 July 1986, released on DVD in 2008 as
Live at Montreux 1986. Their final ever live show was in Salamanca, Spain, on 13 September 1986.
1987–1991: Experimental period The success of
The Colour of Spring afforded the band a bigger budget and schedule for the recording of their next album. Over a year in the making, and featuring contributions from many outside musicians,
Spirit of Eden was released in 1988, on EMI's
Parlophone label. The album was assembled from many hours of improvised instrumentation that Hollis and Friese-Greene had edited and arranged using digital equipment. The result was a mix of rock, jazz, classical, and ambient music. Critically praised, the album reached the UK Top 20 and was certified Silver by the BPI for sales of over 60,000 copies. The band announced they would not be attempting to recreate the album live because, according to Hollis, "people would just want to hear the songs as they are on the album and for me that's not satisfying enough". During the making of
Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk manager Keith Aspden had attempted to free the band from their record contract with EMI. Relations between the band and label continued to degrade after the album's release, eventually culminating in litigation brought by Aspden which extracted the band from their EMI contract. In 2011, Aspden clarified the conditions surrounding the dispute: "in essence our motivation in the court case with EMI was all about money and an opportunity to secure a better deal with another record company. EMI in our view had misinterpreted the meaning of the clause which specified when they should exercise their option. They lost the case on appeal." EMI then sued the band, claiming that
Spirit of Eden was not "commercially satisfactory", but the case was thrown out of court. By 1990, the band had essentially morphed into a vehicle for the studio recordings of Hollis and long-term collaborator Friese-Greene, along with session musicians, including long-term Talk Talk drummer Harris. The group signed a two-album contract with
Polydor Records and released
Laughing Stock on Polydor's
Verve Records imprint in 1991.
Laughing Stock crystallised the experimental sound the band started with
Spirit of Eden, which has been retroactively categorised as "
post-rock" by some critics. Even more minimalist than its predecessor,
Laughing Stock reached just No. 26 on the
UK Albums Chart. == Post break-up ==