Classic Pop April 2019

© Martyn Goodacre/Getty Images

T

alk Talk’s enigmatic and revolutionary frontman Mark Hollis has died, aged 64. His former manager Keith Aspden confi rmed the news on 26 February after a fl urry of internet rumours: “Sadly it’s true.

Mark has died after a short illness from which he never recovered.”

Peter Gabriel, The The, members of Duran Duran

and Spandau Ballet, video director Tim Pope and Adele’s producer Paul Epworth were among those to pay tribute to the infl uential songwriter. Former Talk Talk bassist Paul Webb, aka Rustin Man, wrote: “Musically, he was a genius and it was a honour and a privilege to have been in a band with him. I have not seen Mark for many years, but like many musicians of our generation I’ve been profoundly infl uenced by his trailblazing musical ideas. He was one of the greats, if not the greatest.”

Few acts covered as much ground in such a short

time as Talk Talk managed during their colourful 10-year career. Citing Burt Bacharach and William Burroughs as key infl uences, Hollis’ fi rst foray into music came with post-punk act called The Reaction. In 1981, he formed Talk Talk with Webb, Lee Harris and Simon Brenner and signed to EMI Records.

Over the course of fi ve albums, the band evolved

from intense synth-pop poster boys to ambient post-rock experimentalists, always pushing the envelope in the studio. Their ambitions peaked with 1988’s immersive

Spirit Of Eden

, an almost uncategorisable

masterpiece of improvisation, painstakingly edited

into songs. But by now the band had withdrawn from touring and Hollis was reluctant to make videos or promote the music. Talk Talk eventually extricated themselves from EMI after the company criticised

Spirit Of Eden

for not being “commercially

satisfactory”. They returned in 1991 on Verve/Polydor with the equally ambitious and experimental Laughing Stock

. Completed over the course of a year

• often in the dark – it’s gone down in music history as one of the most arduous LPs to record with Hollis living up to his reputation as a sonic perfectionist. “Before you play two notes learn how to play one note, and don’t play one note unless you’ve got a reason to play it,” he once said, offering a rare glimpse into his methodology.

Talk Talk quietly disbanded in 1992, and Hollis

only made one self-titled solo album in 1998 before retiring from the industry. “I choose for my family,” he said at the time. “Maybe others are capable of doing it, but I can’t go on tour and be a good dad at the same time.”

Bar a composition for the 2012 TV series

Boss

,

Hollis maintained his silence in the decades that followed. “The music speaks for itself,” he said. “It’s almost useless asking me questions about it.”

Nevertheless, his infl uence continued to

grow exponentially over the years with acts like Radiohead, Sigur Rós, Bon Iver and Elbow all referencing his innovative music.

You can read about the making of Talk Talk’s

Spirit

Of Eden

in our Classic Album feature on page 32.