Talk Talk

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Template:Otheruses4 Template:Infobox band Talk Talk was a British music group that was active from 1981 to 1991.

Band members

Principal members included singer/songwriter Mark Hollis, producer/co-writer/keyboardist Tim Friese-Greene, bassist Paul Webb, and drummer Lee Harris.

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Career

The group is known for their early synthpop/New Wave singles, including the international hits "Today", "Talk Talk", "It's My Life", "Such a Shame" and "Life's What You Make It". They are also recognized as forerunners to the post-rock genre for their later experimental albums.

Although they were identified with the New Wave movement and bands such as Duran Duran, Talk Talk had a progressive depth their contemporaries lacked. With the addition of an unofficial fourth member Tim Friese-Greene in 1983, replacing Simon Brenner on keyboards, and becoming producer for the band, each successive Talk Talk release became more sophisticated and original.

They eventually abandoned the New Wave style completely with Spirit of Eden (1988), an album founded on improvised structures and diverse, natural instruments (violin, harmonica) instead of a synth-driven, pop song mold. The less commercial sound did not go well with their label EMI, so they moved to Verve Records to release Laughing Stock in 1991. Laughing Stock crystallized the experimental sound the band started with Spirit of Eden (which has been retroactively categorized as "post-rock" by some critics) and both are widely regarded as the group's masterpieces.

After Laughing Stock, the band broke up. Paul Webb and Lee Harris went on to form the band .O.rang, while Tim Friese-Greene started recording under the name Heligoland. In 1998, Mark Hollis released his eponymous debut Mark Hollis. Webb also collaborated under the name of Rustin Man with Beth Gibbons and released Out of Season in 2002.

In 2003 No Doubt released a cover version of "It's My Life" which became an international hit.

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Discography

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Albums

The Party's Over (1982) : UK #21, US #132
It's My Life (1984) : UK #35, US #42, Italy #5
The Colour of Spring (1986) : UK #8, US #58
Spirit of Eden (1988) : UK #19
Laughing Stock (1991) : UK #26
London 1986 (1999, live) : Germany #46

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Singles

"Mirror Man" (1982)
"Talk Talk" (1982) : UK #52
"Today" (1982) : UK #14
"Talk Talk" (1982, reissue) : UK #23, US #75, South Africa #1 (1983 release)

"My Foolish Friend" (1983) : UK #57

"It's My Life" (1984) : UK #46, US #31, France #25 (1985 release), Germany #33 (in 1985), Italy #9
"Such a Shame" (1984) : UK #49, US #89, Austria #2, France #7 (1985 release), Germany #2, Italy #1, Switzerland #1
"Dum Dum Girl" (1984) : UK #74, Germany #20

"Life's What You Make It" (1986) : UK #16, US #90, France #49, Germany #24, Italy #14
"Living In Another World" (1986) : UK #48, France #44, Germany #34
"Give It Up" (1986) : UK #59
"I Don't Believe In You" (1986)