Talk Talk

After last month's post on the first day of spring, I began thinking about the music of Talk Talk. Coincidentally there was an article on the band in the March issue of Mojo, who describe them as "The 80's Pink Floyd". I had planned to write a brief history of the band with relevant tracks for listening, but what I wrote was anything but brief. So I've aborted my plans to write anything detailed, but I will include the music (since I've uploaded most of it anyway). If you would like to read a good history of the band, check out this article from Record Collector magazine in 1991, posted by Within Without, a Talk Talk fan site.

Please note: the songs I have posted are hosted on RapidShare, please follow the link to download. There is no charge to download, but you will have to wait about a minute for the download to start. Files hosted on RapidShare will only be available for a limited time.

To make the downloads easier, I have zipped these file into two folders. One contains everything up to "The Colour Of Spring", the other contains everything after. Follow the links below to download the zipped folders.

http://rapidshare.de/files/17755609/Talk_Talk_1.zip.html

http://rapidshare.de/files/17822462/Talk_Talk_2.zip.html

From Mark Hollis' first band, The Reaction (1977-1979) Within Without has their only single; I Can't Resist and the original version of Talk Talk here. Note: these files are in Real Audio format not mp3.

Demos recorded in 1981 with producer Jimmy Miller (Rolling Stones - Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed)
Talk Talk
Mirror Man

From their 1982 debut album, The Party's Over, produced by Colin Thurston (Duran Duran)
The Party's Over
Candy

A 1983 single produced by Rhett Davies (Roxy Music, King Crimson)
My Foolish Friend
Call In The Night Boy

Starting with their second album, Tim Friese-Greene became the band's producer and a significant contributor to their sound. From their 1984 album It's My Life.
Dum Dum Girl
Such A Shame
Renee

From 1986, The Colour of Spring.
Happiness is Easy
Time It's Time
Living In Another World is still available (right click, save as)

Talk Talk's last tour was in 1986, after which they retreated to the studio. A show in May of '86 at London's Hammersmith Odeon was captured and eventually released on the 1999 album London 1986. Here are a couple of tracks from that show.
Tomorrow Started
Life's What You Make It
It's My Life

By 1988 Talk Talk could no longer be considered a pop band. They were now producing compositions which were so free-formed, they bordered jazz. They also decided that they would no longer release singles. From 1988, The Spirit of Eden.
Desire
I Believe In You

After The Spirit of Eden, Talk Talk separated with EMI, who subsequently milked their back catalogue for endless compilations. They released one final album on Polydor/Verve, along the same lines as Eden. From 1991, Laughing Stock.
Ascension Day
After The Flood

A second album for Polydor was planned but never materialized. The recordings instead were released in 1998 as a solo album for Mark Hollis, and to date, his last music released. Alas, I do not have the album, so cannot share it with you.

If you would read more about Talk Talk; you check out the article mentioned above, the March 2006 issue of Mojo, or if there's enough interest, I could finish my original post.