Showing posts with label Talk Talk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Talk Talk. Show all posts

Friday 13 March 2009

Such a shame - Talk Talk

I think it's fair to say that 'It's my life' was Talk Talk's breakthrough single, as it was the first to make the charts in various European countries. The band followed it up with a second single from their second album: 'Such a shame'.

In the UK, the single was largely ignored, peaking at number 49, whereas it became a top 10 hit in France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. In the Netherlands, it peaked at number 11. It's weird, because only in the UK there was this special edition with a poster bag and a free second single containing three demo tracks. A truly great package and probably a collector's item now.

My collection: 7" single no. 1300
Found: Record Exchange, London, October 15, 1990
Cost: 5 pounds
Tracks: 'Such a shame' / 'Again a game... again' // 'Candy (demo version)' / 'Talk Talk (demo version)', 'Mirror man (demo version)'
Download: here

Saturday 7 March 2009

Talk Talk - Talk Talk

Talk Talk was formed in 1981 by Mark Hollis, Simon Brenner, Lee Harris and Paul Webb. This first line-up enjoyed their first chart success in the UK with the single 'Talk Talk', a synth-oriented pop song, written by Mark Hollis and his brother Ed Hollis, who managed the band Eddie and the Hot Rods, and had started out in a punk band called The Reaction.

'Talk Talk' peaked at number 52 in the UK singles chart, but failed to chart in other territories. Still, it was the first sign of commercial success for one of the most influential bands of the Eighties.

My collection: 7" single no. 2698
Found: Record Exchange, London, July 3, 1996
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Talk Talk' / '?'

Saturday 21 February 2009

I believe in you - Talk Talk

Out of all the Talk Talk 7" singles I have, this is probably the rarest one. It showed up in my record shop and I bought without hesitation. 'I believe in you' was already out for a few weeks, and spotting this promotional single with twice the edit of the song on it, I had to have it. This edit wasn't released on cd at the time, so I even wrote down which side of the disc I played, so I could preserve the other side for later. Fortunately, the edit was released on cd in 1997.

Taken from the excellent album 'Spirit of Eden', 'I believe in you' is apparently an 'anti-heroin song'. When asked whether the lyrics are based on personal experience, Mark Hollis replied, 'No, not at all. But, you know, I met people who got totally fucked up on it. Within rock music there's so much fucking glorification of it, and it is a wicked, horrible thing.'

My collection: 7" single no. 659
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, October 1, 1988
Cost: 3,5 guilders
Tracks: 'I believe in you (edit)' / 'I believe in you (edit)'


Saturday 24 January 2009

Tomorrow started (live) - Talk Talk

There is no way of knowing, but I always imagine that Talk Talk fans in other countries were quite envious of this single release. Dutch broadcaster Veronica organised an annual Rock Night, which in 1984 took place in Ahoy, Rotterdam on September 21. One of the acts performing was Talk Talk. Their live version of 'Tomorrow started' got so much attention that record company EMI released the track as a single in the Netherlands. Only to find that it didn't reach the Dutch Top 40 after all.

The version released on this single was an edit of the actual performance during the night. You can see the whole performance on this video.

My collection: 7" single no. 283
Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 2 guilders
Tracks: 'Tomorrow started (live)' / 'My foolish friend (live)'
Download: here

Tuesday 9 December 2008

It's my life - Talk Talk

These days, Talk Talk's 'It's my life' is universally seen as a classic track. Remarkably, it didn't reach very high places in the charts when it was released. It didn't even make the top 20 in most countries. But it's still a track everyone knows, even now.

I was very impressed with Talk Talk when they burst onto the scene in 1984. I didn't, however, get a chance to buy all their singles. So of course I had to buy them later. In this case, it led to an interesting collector's item: the Brazilian single contained the extended version on the A-side and the single version on the B-side. It was the first time I bought a 12" version on a 7" single.

My collection: 7" single no. 1218
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 22, 1990
Cost: 3 guilders
Tracks: 'It's my life (extended version)' / 'It's my life'
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