BIOGRAPHY
Talk Talk formed in London in 1981 with Mark Hollis on vocals, guitar and piano, alongside Lee Harris, Paul Webb and Simon Brenner. Their first two albums, The Party's Over (1982) and It's My Life (1984), reached the UK top 40 and produced international hits including "Talk Talk", "Today" and "It's My Life", drawing comparisons to Duran Duran through their shared label EMI and producer Colin Thurston. The Colour of Spring (1986) brought wider critical and commercial success via "Life's What You Make It" and "Living in Another World". Given an open budget and no deadline, the band then made 1988's Spirit of Eden, an experimental, jazz-informed record that alienated EMI and led to legal disputes. After Webb's departure, they moved to Polydor for 1991's Laughing Stock before splitting. Hollis released a solo album in 1998, retired from music, and died in 2019.