Knock Knock, It’s Talk Talk
“I want to write songs that you will still want to listen to in twenty years”: says Mark Hollis, singer, leader, mastermind and spokesperson for Talk Talk. In his mouth, such a sentence contains neither pride nor smugness. Hollis loves music in general and his own in particular: He talks about his art with passion, leaves no detail unanswered and launches into marathon responses that ultimately make Talk Talk aptly named.
Formed at the dawn of 1982, Talk Talk imposed itself on the world scale without any competitor having had time to set foot on the starting block in the neighboring lane. In fact, a bit like Mike Oldfield, Chris De Burgh or Murray Head, Talk Talk has no real challenger since they do not fit into any one category and do not convey any particular image.
MH: “Talk Talk has succeeded thanks to the quality of our music. We did nothing but record songs: immediately, they were liked. Our success is not due to a suggestive look or provocative videos. Yet, I like videos, but why approach it from an overkill perspective. Now, all the groups show themselves in the videos differently than how they are in reality. This afternoon, I just saw Billy Idol on TV… Balls, yes. We are simple guys and we present ourselves as such. In “Dum Dum Girl”, our latest music video, we are seen right in the middle of a field and I sing into a microphone, live. It’s really my voice in the field that you hear”.
A moving formation
“Party’s Over”, the group’s first LP was released in July 82. Produced by Mike Robinson. Talk Talk consisted of four members at the time: Mark Hollis (vocals), Lee Harris (drums), Paul Webb (bass), and Simon Brenner (keyboards). “It’s My Life” followed in February 84, produced by Tim Friese-Greene. The line-up is now reduced to three members (Hollis, Harris, Webb) who called on a few friends: Robbie MacIntosh (Pretenders), Morris Pert (Brand X), Phil Ramocon,… The two albums were of course preceded and followed by a string of singles: “Mirror Man”, “Talk Talk”, “Today”, “My Foolish Friend”, “It’s My Life”, “Such A Shame”,…
MH: “I think our two LPs contain similar material but it’s the approach that distinguishes them. In “Party’s Over” we still have the influence of punk, we are simple and direct there, whereas in “It’s My Life” we developed and took care of the orchestrations. In fact, “It’s My Life” should theoretically have been an album without artifice, jazzy in the Coltrane spirit: piano, sax, bass, drums. But as the work progressed , we collaborated with guests. I insist on the term “guests” and especially not studio musicians”.
RTT: When you started, you recorded demos with Jimmy Miller, a very sixties producer (Traffic, Blind Faith”. Do you like the mentality of that time?
MH” “Absolutely. And for two reasons. First, in the sixties, I have the impression that the albums were much better than today. Bands like King Crimson and Traffic for example have recorded LPs where there is not a piece to throw away. In the 80s, few albums can be listened to from start to finish. Then at that time the look was of minimal importance. The public expected music above all else”.