“Mark has a classic English voice, reminiscent of early Spencer Davis. It’s perfect for the slow numbers like ‘Carolyn’ and ‘Candy’ the latter of which will be the band’s debut single. It’s a sad song that broods and dreams splendidly.” – Vicky Jolly reviewing a very early Talk Talk gig in Sounds, 1982.
Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I consider the counterfactual where Talk Talk’s first single was the epic Candy rather than the DOA Mirror Man. I was bummed out when I first read the review above and discovered that they had actually considered Candy as a debut single. I think it would have been great.
By 1982, both songs had been around for a while – in Mark Hollis’s musical world anyway. They were remnants of the ReAction setlist, Mirror Man mostly remade by the new band, Candy much the same as it was when performed by The ReAction. Both songs were recorded for Talk Talk’s first set of demos. The vocal on that demo version of Candy is spectacular – or, should I say, vocals. The harmonies OMG. Who is that? Simon? Paul? Hollis double-tracked? It’s hard to say but it sounds dreamy. In fact, it broods and dreams splendidly.
So why wasn’t it their first single? My guess is that it just fell out of favour. Maybe they (and by ‘they’ I probably mean Mark Hollis, who always appeared to have the last word) didn’t like the production, maybe they were just sick of it, in the way they never seemed to get sick of Talk Talk, the second single. Talk Talk was seemingly played at every gig ever, whereas Candy dropped out of the setlist almost immediately.
Poor Candy. Not only left by the wayside, but unfortunately numbered amongst the songs in the TT catalogue rumoured to be about heroin. Why was this such a recurring theme? Was it an eighties thing? A post punk thing? Why did it attach itself to four handsome young men in white suits? I mean, I hate to even mention it, honestly, because I have no wish to revive that speculation; from this distance I am dumbfounded by it. Maybe it was just the obtuseness of the Hollis lyrics and his vocal tone – ‘What’s that about, then? Sounds sad, maybe drugs? Yeah that works.”
Candy, forever a mystery. But a beautiful mystery.
Candy (demo)https://youtu.be/eEBCAtvKbAk?si=kimq7i1ZsWxjFPFP
Candy – The ReActionhttps://youtu.be/uoPUeEl0lJE?si=9NEMOaRU_0GBOhkT