I always intended to carry on recognising musicians who have had a major impact on my musical journey, who have passed on under the Thank You For The Music section of this blog. But I never thought I'd be writing this for Talk Talk's Mark Hollis so early.
I got on to Talk Talk from the off in 1982 as a new romantic band who produced a debut album of catchy pop hooks (The Party's Over) and with an intensity that was missing in many of the pop bands at the time. It was produced by Colin Thurston who produced Duran Duran's first two albums, so the new romantic references are pretty valid.
The band initially consisted of Mark Hollis - Vocals, Simon Brenner - Keyboards, Lee Harris - Drums & Paul Webb - Bass
Mark Hollis had a songwriting credit in all but one of the tracks on the original album - and even had the sole writing credit on three tracks. So it became obvious who the songwriting force was within the band. But I never thought in a million years that their musical journey would lead them to such beautiful and artistic music.
In 1984 - the band, now down to an official three piece with the departure of Simon Brenner, released their second album, It's My Life. An important change for album two was the arrival of Tim Friese-Greene as producer and keyboard player. He, with Mark Hollis, pushed the sonic direction of the band as the songs became more intricate and intoxicating. And tightened Mark's grip on the songwriting credits. It was now definitely Hollis' band. It's My Life contained three exceptional singles with It's A Shame, Dum Dum Girl and It's My Life.
Two years later in 1986 came album three - the ground breaking The Colour Of Spring.
Talk about a giant leap for mankind. Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene ditched the electro basis of the first two albums and turned to a more organic and acoustic based soundscape. The quality of the songs had also taken another great leap forward. Songs like te opening Happiness IS Easy pointed the way for future Talk Talk albums as instrumentation like acoustic drums, Pianos, organs, acoustic guitars and even a children's choir brought to life the almost jazz like delivery of the songs.
For many fans, this is their favourite Talk Talk album.
And it was the first album written solely by Mark Hollis & Tim Friese-Greene. I absolutely adore this record.
To many, the peak of the band's artistic vision came two years later in 1988 with he release of The Spirit Of Eden. Again written solely by Mark Hollis & Tim Friese-Greene it was the result of months of recording in Wessex Studios London. Sources at the time talked of recording in darkness, hours of directionless jamming, experimentation in production and instrumentation. Keeping to a mostly acoustic template the band produced the record of their lives and included many acoustic instruments and players which ranged from Cor Anglais to Dobros. Indeed, an album of only six tracks, it produced one single, the severely edited but still sublime, I Believe In You.
It was a further three years (1991) before Talk Talk produced their final album. The elegiac and moving Laughing Stock.
Following Spirit Of Eden, Paul Webb had decided to leave the band as a duo of Mark Hollis and Lee Harris with Tim Friese-Greene once again on board as producer and keyboard player. It was recorded in the same vein as it's predecessor with weeks of arduous hours in the studio. Once again it was an album that contained only six tracks. But what a sextuplet they are written almost entirely by Mark Hollis. With these last two albums, it was obvious the band found their ways of producing music together tough going. So it came as no surprise that Laughing Stock ended up being the band's farewell.
If ever a band had followed and produced the perfect artistic and commercial career, then it was Talk Talk. 5 almost perfect albums showing the growth and inspiration of its main man, Mark Hollis.
Many music observers at the time thought that this might lead to Mark Hollis following his own musical path. But this was not to happen. A man of a seemingly singular musical vision and integrity, it was a further seven years, 1998, that Mark surprised the musical world with the emergence of his one and only solo album, simply titled Mark Hollis.
Mark's final musical offering to the world stands as a fitting epitaph. Gentle, stately, and very, very beautiful. Indeed, the beauty of the music is often contained within the silence and empty space of the record.
Talk Talk and Mark Hollis have never been far away from my turntable or cd player. He leaves an amazing legacy of sound and vision which will be discovered by artists and musicians for many years to come.
To me personally, the loss of Mark Hollis to music is right up there with the loss of Buddy Holly. He chose to have such a short career in music. He believed, I feel, that he had reached an artistic peak with his solo album, that he had no more left to say. Like Arthur Rimbaud, he chose silence as his final artistic statement. It was a beautiful way to close and say goodbye.
Photo courtesy of Frank Bauer
