“Writers are liars, my dear, surely you know that by now? And yet, things need not have happened to be true. Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot.” - Neil Gaiman - Dream Country
Grief
is weird. I tell people that it's a lie to tell people it will get
better after losing a loved one. The grief just spaces itself out more
and sometimes hits you when you least expect it to.
Last night I discovered that Elrond is my dad. (of course, wordy explanation ahead).
I
recently half-rewatched the theatrical cut of the Lord of the Rings.
"Half-rewatched" meaning, it (the Fellowship and Two Towers) was on as
background noise while preparing for dinner, and doing some chores over
several days. Last night I finished up the last 20 minutes of the
Two-Towers and then watched Return of the King without interruption and
distraction.
Without giving away my age, I am certainly a Gen
Xer. The 80s were only 10 years ago, right? These movies still feel new
to me. As I watched the movie and the gathering armies it occurred to me
that I had a discussion with my dad about the movies when the were
first released. I was overwhelmed with a feeling of confusion: Dad had
been gone for a long time now.
But then, how could that be true if we had a conversation about these
brand
new movies? I let the confusion and thoughts go, until this morning.
This
morning, amid my usual difficulty in focusing on any one task (thanks
peri-menopausal symptoms!), I eventually turned to the trusty 'let's end
this pub trivia argument now' web browser Google and found out two
things to quell some of the confusion. The first of these movies came
out in 2001, and my dad passed away a few years after they were
released. My recollection of my own timeline is strange.
My
conversation with my father about the film was his understanding about
what Lord of the Rings was. Was is historical fiction? Based on true
events? These giant fancy battle scenes were impressive. I remember
finding it a bit difficult to explain it to him. I mean, I scoffed a
little, because historical fiction and elves, as appealing as that would
be, is alas, not true. In his defence, I think never really noticed the
elves (ears) in all the previews he was seeing, and just saw what
appeared to be old armour, giant battles and some incredible special
effects to make armies of 10,000 people look real. But was it based on
true events? I remember doing a Ben Kenobi "Many of the truths we cling
to depend greatly on our point of view" on my dad, drawing ties from the
Lord of the Rings to the World Wars. Not a true event, but so many
things were inspired by true events. That was too nuanced a discussion
for him and he seemed to lose interest. I remember half-heartedly
telling him to watch the film once it came out on whatever Pay-TV
channels he had access to at the time, and that it was a fantastic and
beautiful film.
I found myself drawing parallels of my dad to
Elrond last night. He was heroic, smart and wise, seen war, been in the
military, left his home to some fancy foreign land, kept some things
from his daughter to protect her because he loved her so much, even
trying to scare off her boyfriend, even tho he liked the guy. I can
assure you I do not need to rewrite this summary to fit either Elrond or
my father better, except change the order of events. Timelines are
messy for me. It may or may not be untrue that I've been in blue Police
call box, or 1.21 gigawatt powered Delorian.
I am not sure if
dad ever got around to watching these movies. But I hope he did and
enjoyed them as much as I did. These were timeless themes, about good
versus evil, and fighting the good fight. Things that both my parents
instilled in us.
Hey dad, did you know you're like Elrond?
I can already hear him laughing and telling me how silly I am being.
In my previous post I mentioned I had mostly moved over to Instagram because of ease of posting. Well, I'm still doing it.
If anyone is wondering why I'm filling my stories with birthday posts, it's mostly my way of trying to stay mentally fit. I've dedicated time every morning to read through who's birthday it might be and learn something about why these people are famous. The first 2 months was me just posting birthdays but not sharing why I found them fascinating. Some people were kind of obvious, some are just favourite musicians, actors, etc. Anyone who brought me some joy in my life via their art or science.
I won't be offended if you can't be arsed to look at any of them. I certainly can't look at everyone's stories. But there is is. I'm looking up people, trying to learn stories and facts. Sometimes it's just a person I hadn't know was responsible for certain things and often it's just an excuse to listen to some long forgotten song.
It's vernal equinox today. So here I am just prattling on, no focus still. But hoping new season, new year, new beginnings, new start.
I'll get there.
Oh, wait. I mentioned chips.
So this atrocity was put out by Frito-Lay.
Behold. HAVOC Bulgogi Blaze chips.
As a 1st generation Korean I can confirm all of the following:
No Koreans were in anyway involved in the creation of this abomination.
And if they were, they have lost their sense of taste
My ancestors are weeping
Aroma: Something between a subtle hint of sour body odour and vinegar, which immediately enrages me because vinegar never equals hot and most hot sauce makers haven't been able to figure it out. So instead of the intense pain of heat, you're stuck with your mouth imploding from the taste of 9 volt batteries and acid. But I digress.
Taste and texture: So, the chip is a wavy ruffle kind of deal. It is a well made chip. It is satisfyingly crunch like a good chip should be. And then... it tastes like... weird barbecue seasoning. If you've had barbecue chips, you know what they taste like. They're actually fairly decent, with the right amount of smokey sweet, hint of ketchup seasoning.
This was as if you'd ordered your chips from Wish. Poor flavour, like expired dollar-store popcorn seasoning made in some unknown people's democratic republic buried deep between the USSR and China if such a thing existed. Which it no longer does because either China or Russia annexed it.
I noticed that this bag had a 'Vegetarian' label on it. And immediately felt sorry for all the vegetarians who have given up meat and then you punish them by offering this sad trip into No-flavour town.
There's even this cute label on the bottom corner claiming these chips are supposed to be hot. Alas, the amount of heat from the seasoning would best be described hot, like a warm summer day on the rejected planet of Pluto.
This is a sad day in the North American chip market. So sad.
I have found Instagram to be an easier outlet for my creative bursts, such that they are. So if you miss my adorably trying and annoying online presence, please, feel free to follow my Instagram account. It's public for now and will remain that way until the weirdos (read: incels, anti-vaxxers and freeDUM convoy creeps) make it an uncomfortable space and then I'll let my nasty alter ego take over and the internets will be like over-stimulated apes and chimpanzees screeching and tossing handfuls of shit all over each other. (Yes I know it already is like that, but this corner will be amalgamated into that too).
If you cared enough to read the whole previous COVID post and are concerned, I may have neglected to mention that I was, at the time, under an enormous amount of stress. Without getting into the boring and personal bits, a huge change in my life came along and we got through it okay but the journey was one hell of a challenge.
I'm not longer living in the big city and have left to live in in the boondocks of Canada.
Silver Birches - Tom Thomson
I'm practically living in a Group of 7 painting and it's been quiet, sometimes too quiet, but peaceful.
I can say, with some certainty, that the Long COVID symptoms were also symptoms of extreme duress and the two simply fed off each other and turned me into a hacking, coughy, fatigued mess of a person.
My stomach aliments, now that we've mostly fully investigated them, likely pre-date COVID and were noted by another doctor/dentist, but largely dismissed because I wasn't familiar with any of the symptoms of acid-re-flux. I did a barium swallow-test and it seems that I do suffer from it but didn't understand that was what was happening and it was obviously made worse with the stress.
Barium swallows are yucky. Normally I have a strong constitution when it comes to conventionally 'gross' food items, but this one was a little difficult on an empty stomach. Imagine drinking chalk. That's pretty much it. If it came in another flavour, it would be like drinking coloured chalk. Needless to say, I'm in no rush to have another one.
My oesophagus is okay tho. No damage.
My fatigue comes and goes, but with the major stress I was experiencing now gone, the fatigue isn't as bad anymore, but still concerning because I shouldn't be this tired all the time.
The brain-fog is the most discerning part of the equation. I still have trouble putting my thoughts into words and will stand there trying to piece together steps of a task that I've done many times before. The confusion bothers me because it puts me one step closer to that unknowable monster that is Alzheimer's. I recently read a book called "Forgetting" by Dr. Scott A. Small, which put my mind a little at ease. It broke down the mechanisms of memory and made it more like an engine repair manual. If you have an issue, you trace it back to the source. They have ways of doing this, they have ways to understand this. They are always working on a solution. By the time things start to really show, maybe there will be a magical pill. Until then, I shall continue to prattle on, take bad photos and be a menace to my corner of the internet.
Writing is a blessing to me because, unless I'm messaging someone, I can take the time I need to remember the words I need to describe what I'm feeling, thinking, imagining. But it, like everything else, is becoming a little harder for me to do. When I was younger, words used to pour from me with ease. But my internal dialogue never had words in it. It's images, feelings, abstract ideas that don't necessarily have words at the ready anymore. My descriptive audio is failing.
However, it's easier to sit and try to remember, say, the same of a tool, like a set of tongs, instead of standing there in the kitchen heat, staring right at them, and trying to ask my husband to pass them to me before something burns. "Hey, can you pass me the things that pinch?" Yes. I've been reduced to describing the action of the item I need. Our conversations are not unlike this on a daily basis:
Me: "Can you give me the thing that has ink in it? You write with it. That thing." Pointing desperately
Him: "The pen?"
Me: "Yeah, the write-y, stylus thingy!"
Him: "Pen."
Me: (Frustrated but seeing the humour in it all) "WRITEY STYLUSY THINGY."
Hopefully my memory and physical coordination organ stays in good repair and I can continue being as non-senile as possible for many years to come. If not, I'll look back on this babble and likely wonder who the eff this weirdo is that wrote all this nonsense.
Just prior to Christmas I received a message from author Toby Benjamin inquiring about 10 favourite
10 Talk Talk songs. He mentioned he would select some of it for a post he was going to do for his Spirit of Talk Talk page and honestly I was happy to oblige, but honestly, it wasn't a fair question. Narrow it down to only 10 favourites? Unpossible!
Here is the post where some of my Peanut babble made it mainstream. Woot! Thanks to Toby for the opportunity to stretch my writing chops a little bit over the holidays! :) Below this is my entire unabridged submission to Toby.
It’s My Life - Hands down, my favourite because it was the first song
I’d ever heard by them and it was this song that made me (many years
later) decide to find out more about their other releases. Also as much
as I hesitate to admit this, it was No Doubt that reminded me about this
somewhat long forgotten song in my ill-gotten Napster-made library and
made me go looking to get a better (read: official) copy of it.
Runeii - On first listen this was the song that made me start the track
over again because it was so subtle and quiet and clearly every note,
sound and pause was meaningful and I knew my full attention was needed.
Today - My love of Talk Talk made me many good online friends in the
last few years. My friend Lorraine (in Australia , I’m in Canada) found
this 7” single and randomly decided to gift it to me. It is one of the
first actual physical piece of Talk Talk merchandise I owned.
Living in Another World - I’ve always loved the power start to this song
that set the high energy for the rest of it. Also the climax of the
song where Mark sounds like he’s almost shouting. (God only knows what
kind of tales you tell).
Life’s What You Make It - This is the 2nd song by the band that I knew
of. But it was different enough that it was a few years before I
realized these were the same guys that wrote ‘It’s My Life’ I’ve always
loved that about Talk Talk. Their albums sound different. Their albums
are very much like those lined up school photos your mom has of you from
kindergarten to university. They sound like that to me, except a wide
gap from junior school pics (The Party’s Over and It’s My Life) high
school (the Colour of Spring) university thesis (Spirit of Eden) and
post doctoral (Laughing Stock) … sorry for being so wordy.
The Rainbow - What a solid opener and definitely the moment I realized
what Mark was going on about in his early interviews when he described
Talk Talk was more like a jazz quartet.
Candy - Same as ‘Have You Heard the News’ I have heard the ReAction
version and I think I like them better. But I love that even then they
were making sure they weren’t background music. The change in tempo,
that marching drum beat, in the last half of the song jars you to
attention. What happened there? Amazing.
It’s Getting Late In the Evening - When I first heard this song (knowing
it was a B-Side) I was immediately surprised it wasn’t a B-Side for a
Spirit of Eden single. The same goes for ‘For What It’s Worth’. Both
beautiful songs.
Time is Time - My favourite non-single track off the album. It just
sounded perfect. I couldn’t explain more than that.
Taphead - I’m not sure why my brain connects this song to Mark’s solo
track ‘Westward Bound’. Probably the guitar. I can’t explain why I like
this song yet. But I do. I'm happy to listen a few more hundred times and
come back with a more cohesive explanation someday.
(This one goes to 11) The Colour of Spring - You said Talk Talk but I love this song very much. It could have worked as the title track for that album. But it seems like such a perfect start to the last offering we were ever going to have from Mark Hollis. It was delicate, with that right amount of measured power behind his voice. I remember reading he said his voice was like one of the instruments and I think it really is here.
Thanks Toby and hopefully you’re to use some of my babble. 😃
Blog P.S: There were actually 13 in my list, with Rustin Man Night in Evening City and .O.Rang Moratorium rounding out the final two, but I stopped short of writing anything about them because I felt that they were going to be left out anyway.
I can with almost 99% confidence tell you that mega-flu I had back in Christmas 2019? Probably COVID-19, before it was even a thing here. Upon seeing a doctor a few weeks later due to a lingering cough and fatigue, it was dismissed as that 'bad flu' going round. I was prescribed antibiotics (for a virus? I was highly confused at the doctor's treatment but too tired to argue. FYI, antibiotics are NOT for treating viruses. Bacterial infections- YES!) and sent home. I never filled the prescription lest whatever I had would turn into an antibiotic resistant super bug if it was indeed some kind of bug, which it wasn't. It was a persistent deep chest cough, a lingering symptom.
It was probably Wuhan novel coronavirus. (Remember when it was called that. I barely do, but then, I stopped watching the news when my mom had a stroke back in 2018 and given a terrible prognosis which she outlived by almost two years).
I had fought my first round of COVID-19.
That persistent chest cough broke my rib a month later. I never officially got it checked out because what was the hospital going to do? Overrun with COVID at that time, risking catching COVID-19 for an x-ray to be told, "Yup. You gone done and broke it. Go home. Hold a pillow when you sneeze or cough" didn't seem like a smart idea. I've had a broken rib before. Four in fact.
Bad flu indeed.
It would be a month after my first bout with COVID-19 before Canada's patient zero was reported on by the media. At that point, I had a lingering cough, fatigue and brain fog. Fun fact! Patient zero was known to my co-workers who may have come in contact with him. But by then, I was already naturally immunized.
I suppose I'm fortunate. The fatigue and brain fog I sometimes experience these days isn't as bad as some people have it. I've heard some terrible stories. It's been hard to focus and mundane, day to day tasks have become harder to do. I'm forgetful too, which makes me panicky. My mother had Alzheimer's. I may have it. It's just waiting to rear it's ugly, forgetful head. But I'm still mostly functional and able to make it to work daily.
Just when I thought I might be getting better from the bouts of fatigue and brain fog, back in February of this year, I was hit with a bad cold that tested negative each time. But the deep and familiar chest cough was back. It lingered for two months. The fatigue was more pronounced and there was brain fog galore. How did I know it was COVID? Special thanks to my husband who started to get sick the following week and tested positive. For what it's worth, this second round of COVID was a bad cold at it's worst. The vaccine was doing what it was supposed to do. We didn't die... or at least, I think I'm ok. After all, I could be writing this via some awesome Ouija board blog function.
The chest cough remained for a month after recovering and at the end of it, here I am again, with a potentially damaged esophagus and potentially related stomach and liver issues that I'm currently seeking treatment for. I can't say if they're COVID related or not. Neither can my doctor.
So this is where I stand at the moment. Dealing with a health care system that is catching up after two long years of shutdowns and extraordinary demands. I have other health concerns and so far the push to seek treatment in those areas have been slow at best. One specialist has refused to see me over a potential miscommunication initiated by my family doctor's staff, the other specialist did damage to someone close to me and I repeatedly asked to be referred to another specialist (there's more than one in the city) because of that conflict of interest. So far, I've yet to receive any feedback or follow-up. This long waiting game continues.
I guess I'm venting a little. Apologies. I knew when I started this blog, I'd eventually let loose and just speak my mind.
This is me, timidly venting about my health. I tend to keep my heath personal because when you discuss issues like, say, what my blood sugar levels are, everyone is suddenly a dietician or endocrinologist who loves giving out unsolicited opinions and advice. People have made terrible assumptions about my health because of my weight. I understand sometimes it's meant as concerned helpful advice, but unless I asked, don't offer. I'm not diabetic and for the last 10+ years, haven't crossed that line yet.
As someone once said, my weight is of no concern to you unless I'm sitting on your face.
While we do have free health care, the wait to see anyone tends to be long and frustrating and so I vent a little more. What healthcare we do have certainly needs to be protected. I urge everyone to keep pressuring the powers that be to ensure that our access to healthcare remains and gets better, not worse.
I'll update occasionally for my own sense of blog fulfillment but don't expect daily whinging posts about how horrible I feel. I try to keep things light, positive and funny.
If you have concerns about COVID-19 or other health concerns, while I don't mind if you want to comment about them here, I might even comment back if I can think of something to say, but I can't offer advice. I'm not a medical professional, which is where you should go for these kind of things. I can only offer a "there there" and a pat on the head.
DISCLAIMER - I'm not an expert by any means on COVID. I've provided links from the three top health organizations that I'm familiar with above for some reference and starting points if you are seeking information. If you believe you may have COVID-19 or are suffering from Post COVID/Long COVID, seek medical attention for appropriate diagnoses and treatment.
Title: St. James Infirmary (From A Celebration of New Orleans special)
Lyrics: When I die, bury me a straight laced shoes A box backed suit and a Stetson hat Put 20 dollar gold piece on my watch chain So the boys'll know I died standin' pat
Why?:
My newsfeed on my FB sometimes brings me some new stuff that’s pretty
freakin’ good and serves as my morning groove as I’m getting ready for
work. Like this lovely piece.
Hugh Laurie is one of my favourite doctors and a damn fine pianist.
So for reasons beyond my understanding, the person who posted the clip of the piece won't allow playback on other sites, which I suspect has more to do with driving traffic directly to his YouTube channel than anything else. Fortunately for me, i was able to clip a piece for my social media to share my newfound discovery with my friends and, it made me seek out the entire show, which blessedly does exist and it posted as the main feature here. So pleasant researcher, internet rabbit hole bonus. :D
Translation courtesy Elena Carla Maria Cantoni (Grazie! https://www.facebook.com/groups/133866179978426/user/100000892584323/)
Video from Silvana Mendes Facebook here: Special Talk Talk, una produzione Italia Uno per Deejay Television Prima Parte (Talk Talk Special - a Italia Uno production for Deejay Television - First Part)
First guy from audience: “Look I expect to space out! It’s been a depressive week, but now I am here and… ‘fiieeww’!!”
First girl from audience: “I await a concert with a music that is different from what we are usually used to…”
Second girl from audience: “I already saw Talk Talk in Milano and they were wonderful. I expect they will be even better here today, with all these people…”
First interview – Mark: “Why do I close myself in the wardrobe after the concert? Well, it happened twice in my life and both the times there were TV troupes in my room. You see, when I come back to the hotel and I am alone, I can slip into my bed and sleep. But if I come back and I find TV people in my room, so I begin to look for a better place to be quiet and I found out this best place is my wardrobe!”
Mark (in italian) on stage when introducing “It’s my life” song: “This song is very important to me because its title is ‘It’s my life’!!”
Second interview – Paul: “I have to say this was the best concert we ever did.”
Lee: “It is a fantastic audience.”
Mark: “Well, what can I say? I had fun. There is not so much to add, really. It was great and I had fun. I like doing concerts.”
Third interview, probably on the bus to the concert (not so easy to distinguish who is saying what) –
Paul: “Here we are guys! All together while we’re going to the concert!”
Lee(or Mark?): “First scene, ciak one!”
Fourth interview, immediately after the third, minute 10:16 –
Lee: “Before getting on the stage I think about how I am going to play, I prepare myself psychologically, I think about the beats of the different songs and similar things…”
Mark (laughing): “Before getting on the stage I train drinking two bottles of Gin!”
Paul: “I do not think about anything before a concert. I get on the stage and play, just that. It’s simple.”
Again second girl from audience: “[I loved]… when they sang ‘Dum dum girl’, that is my favourite song from them…”
Fifth interview, from minute 24:10, on the bus –
Mark: “You know, there is this guy here (points the cameraman with finger) that is following me everywhere! I woke up this morning…”
Paul(?): “And you got up…”
Mark: “No! No! I did not ever get up and there was this guy with the camera filming! But who are you?! (Shouting) Who are you??!!”
Lee: “I was under the shower, under the shower!! (from under the shower) Stop! Cut! I do not want to see you no more! (this last part added by italian translation)”
Again on the bus – Interviewer: “Which is the main difference between Italy and the other countries where you played?”
Paul: “Here they speak Italian!”
Mark: “ Yes, it’s true! They speak Italian!”
Sixth interview, with the crew, minute 27:
Interviewer: “What does it mean [for you] to be touring with TT?”
Phil Reis: “It’s a question of life!”
John Turnbull: “It is like delivering a baby!”
Ian Curnow: ”It’s a terrible thing!”
Final greetings, minute 29:40 –
Mark: “I would like just to say that it was a great pleasure to work with Deejay Television!”
Hello! I know, it's been a long time. A recently released into the wild video has turned up. From June 14, 1985 Bravo TV (Germany).
I can't take credit for the transcription. This is from the fabulous digital illustrator, Nika Purkis. Thanks Nika, you're awesome!
Text borrowed unceremoniously from Facebook (of course posted with kind permission from the amazing lady Nika):
Ok,
here's a first go at transcribing/translating (I stuck to what was
actually said by the guys as best as I could, please correct where I
misheard stuff!) This was highly entertaining
==============
{on the tube}
Guy:
{starts mid-sentence}…this is not the case anymore with the dudes you
are about to see, they are among the top stars of the international
music scene…
Lady:… and are currently recording their new album at Battery Studios. This is Talk Talk!
{outside Battery Studios}
Lady
VoiceOver: On this road in Northwest London is where Battery Studios
are located. From the moment you step into the place it is obvious that
only top quality work is produced here. From Iron Maiden, Yes, to
Cars..this is where only the best musicians come to record their stuff.
{TT walking in}
Lady
VoiceOver: And when these guys are in productive mode it’s well
possible to catch a few funny quips during the interview as well. The
boys are really just up to mischief.
{the piano scene}
Mark: This is a piece from our new album.
Lee: That’ll probably set the single. {?}
Paul and Mark: yeah…
Lady
(VoiceOver): A track from the new album? well, that doesn’t sound
promising! One “plang” on the piano, and stupid faces. They are taking
the piss, right!?
{She’s asking them something inaudible while sitting down, Lee says "I’ll sit here" but I didn’t catch Mark}
Lady: You’re working now on the new record?
{I can’t quite catch what Lee’s saying..”there’s a something here”? }
Mark: yeah.
Lady: What’s gonna be the name of the record?
Mark: Don’t know that…. Don’t know.
Lady: And when is it gonna be finished?
Mark: Uh..about 2, 3 months? 4 months? September, October perhaps. Unless it takes longer.
Lady: When you began with Talk Talk, Mark, didn’t you have the wish to be a pop star?
Mark:
No I only ever wished for one thing…and that was that I could sit here
and do this interview with you right now… {laughs} it’s beautiful
innit…it’s beautiful.
Lee {laughs}: beautiful…beautiful
Lady: Ok, but seriously now: what does your recording process look like?
Mark:
ah right. Lee comes in, right, and he starts hitting things. And we all
go ‘ah stop that bangin’... stop that bangin’. But he won’t, right,
until someone says: if we tape it…will you stop banging. And he’s yeah,
alright,… and so we tape it, and he stops banging.
And then Paul comes around, …..oh that awful noise..that noise…dum dum, dum dum….so we tape that.
Lee: …and then we invite people down to make noise…
Mark: Yeah…
Lee: …so we can put it on tape.
Mark:
Yeah. Trying to make it a bit better, with just him and Paul this thing
is terrible. It is rubbish. It’s absolute rubbish. So we invite people
who can actually play, to make it sound nice. And that’s it really.
🔗 (Science article): https://www.pnas.org/content/111/28/10383 🔗 (A Journal of Musical Things): https://www.ajournalofmusicalthings.com/science-says-that-the-most-important-member-of-a-band-is/
Alan Cross is the host of an amazing radio show/podcast "The Ongoing History of New Music" which is filled with bits of trivia and a sampling of some amazing alternative music. Like Pop-Up Video, but better music and facts without the bubble sound effects. He's been doing it for many years and I was happy to rediscover the show recently.
The Reaction - Aylesbury Friars - September 2, 1978 - Mark Jordan
So it is with much surprise and much delight that I have become a footnote in an article about Talk Talk.
My new and amazing friend Gwen who directed this beautiful movie about Talk Talk called In A Silent Way has embarked on writing a six part series about Talk Talk. I have been bestowed the title of "Shadow Archeologist" by the author. I
am absolutely ok with this and will eventually design a certificate or
diploma to hang in my office.
Bruce Douglas & Mark Hollis - Photo by George Bodnar, NME
New Musical Express - August 26, 1978
Caption: THE REACTION: “So cop the new single, right?”
The Reaction MARQUEE CLUB, LONDON
REACTION, You wanna reaction? Aw, right - try this.
Hey gang - Remember those fabulous ‘60s? No? Rowboat the slick ‘70s? Reaction do. They checked out transatlantic Pop Rhythm ’n’ Rock Hall of Fame. And decided that’s where they’re coming from.
They’re young and they play good. Sound is structured round controlled interplay between lead and rhythm guitars, with heavy rhythmic support at the back. I heard them make a mistake on “Live Alone”, but otherwise the playing was just about flawless. Tasty harmonies too.
Mark Hollis (rhythm guitars) take the lead vocals and catches the main visual action. He kneels (prayer wise?) in front of the speakerstack. He reached for the volume switch… I felt a lump in my throat: this is feedback. And Gino Williams Jr. (drums) played a solo. That’s right - a drum solo. Laugh? I nearly cried as their cover version of Cream’s “Badge” chop-chopped through the speakers. Oh to be thirteen…
The Reaction look like up and coming corporate rockers should. Bruce Douglas (bass) is like Willie De Ville in a smartie suit. Bruce handles the material with finesse. He’s a suave player.
Perhaps they’ll headline and make albums. Just like Taste, Ten Years after and all that crew. Then the business really moves in and they get bagged as Rock stars.
Catch them now while they’re still fun.
Caris
(Fun fact: George Page mentioned to me that the two people at the mike was their nod to the Beatles.)
The Reaction-Promotional Poster - courtesy George Page
(All photos and documents herein provided by George Page (unless noted^^) and published/shared with his kind permission.)
In the previous post, there was a letter from Geoff Baker to the Reaction asking to attend their gig at the Roundhouse for July 23. In the letter he mentions an unpublished review, which I've transcribed for you here.
God bless Geoff, he was truly a great fan of the band. A 'gushing' review according to George Page. But I disagree and think he's just being humble. I think it's probably spot on. Geoff's description of George made me truly regret never seeing the Reaction live. Mind you, I would have been three years old at the time and nobody wants a crying toddler around them.
GWB July 12
After getting drunk on warm beer, and feeling better for the belches, I hung around (trying to look hard and failing) waiting for the support band - The Reaction.
They came on like they knew they were good. They had an instant buzz in their blues which hit you like a smack in the face.
Like may of the bands that have emerged since J. Rotten esq. started puking over punters and saying it was cool, they had that aggressive energy that hippies lack, but they added a definitive touch that put them miles above the bands whose names people like to mention in “hip” conversation at gin and tonic records parties - musicianship. They don’t just strut like turkeys playing B flat, they know their way around an axe.
Gino Williams, who drummed like a threshing machine on amphetamine sulphate, summed up the band’s ethos for the ligging journalist.
“The most important thing lacking today is the ability to play what’s hanging round your neck. The Pistols started the vibe - which was great cos it proved you could get to the crowds without coming on like some super guitarist. But then it degenerated and you got bands just getting up and playing anything as long it was loud and fast.
“What we try to do is link both areas so you get this high energy and musical ability”.
Which is what they’ve got. As a band they are enigmatic on stage. Mark Hollis, lead vocals and rhythm axe, stands, legs askance, ready to blow a lot of “name” bands off the boards. To an extent this kid is personified rock and roll.
- Gruff, wild, skinny and raw - R&R ain’t about be[ing] fat and comfortable in your silk armchair. Let’s hope that no executive from Island “matures” the image and wrecks the band with business-inclined compromise.
Even though his brother - who brought a new meaning to the Hot Rods and to sunglasses - helped shaped Barrie Masters into one of the best front men in the country - Mark’s gonna wreck that reputation if the Press give him a chance.
On lead there is this demon who comes on like some cross between Wilko Johnson (in dress) and Billy Wyman in his dancing. Wilko, who half the country acclaimed as king when he was with the Feelgoods, just ain’t in the same league as this guy, he whips solo’s out with all the ease of someone darning socks.
The band is tight - tres tight - a lot of that, I think is due to Bruce’s bass, I haven’t seen a guy move over the frets with such power and dexterity since wotshisname left Free.
You can’t describe the effect a band like this has in an article. But the best way to sum them up was by their version of “Badge”.
They broke this 60s classic into the 70s by mixing the epitome of musicianship (viz. Cream) with all the raw power and energy of punk This was music how it should be played - brining new ideas and interpretations to old, but intact, doctrines.
See them when you can, impress your friends with tales of these Titans of young rock. Your future and the health of music lies in their hands.
(All photos and documents herein provided by George Page and published/shared with his kind permission.)
If you follow me on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter, then you might have this inkling that recently, I've been in touch with their guitarist, a legend, so far as I'm concerned and all around gentleman.
For those not in the know, the Reaction is Mark Hollis' band prior to Talk Talk. They toured (a lot! Their tour itineraries are below) and recorded a few things here and there for an album that never came to pass. What came was a single, the b-side and a contribution to a compilation album.
George has been digging tirelessly throughout his own files and archives and has been kind enough to share his finds with me and with his kind permission, with you. I've always been firm on my belief that these kind of thing should be accessible to the fans. Among the Talk Talk fans, there sits plenty of us that discovered Mark's first band with George Page, Bruce Douglas and Gino P. Williams and absolutely fell in love with the three tracks (I Can't Resist, I'm a Case and Talk Talk Talk Talk) that we were allowed to hear.
The Reaction photoshoot @ Electric Avenue
Over the last two years demo tracks and even a live recording surfaced on YouTube. Gold! Pure gold for us. But unfortunately, so far as I can tell, all of these tracks have since been pulled down from YouTube. If new recordings pop up on YouTube (or on a public forum elsewhere) I'll be sure to share them with you. For now, here is a link to a playlist with everything I've been able to find, Reaction related, on YouTube.
I was fortunate enough to have received this from George Page. A letter from reviewer Geoff Baker from the Express & Echo newspaper in Exeter. I don't have the actual review yet (UPDATE: within hours of posting, the most excellent Mr. Page came through and sent me the review. I've transcribed it in next post or you can click on the link here), but I think the last line of Geoff's letter says it all. Clearly Geoff saw in a 23 year old Mark what we all now know.
(For those not in the know, Geoff Baker moved on to become Paul McCartney's PR guy for a while. Special thanks to Alla Webster for providing me with that tidbit.)
Transcript of the letter is below.
Letter from Geoff Baker to Mark Hollis and the Reaction
Letter Transcript:
Dear Mark,
Regarding me and the bird coming to see you blast Sharr Murray* to bits at the Marquee. Well, we can’t make it, cos my editor won’t give me that day off. But, there’s always a but, we can come up to see you at the Roundhouse. Are you playing the Roundhouse? On Sunday July 23? I fucking hope so. If so, could you get my name on the door - plus two (cos I’ll bring the bird and I’ve told my brother what a blast you are on stage (I’ve also told half of the Westcountry) and he wants to come). If you can’t manage it, we’ll pay cos I don’t mind forking out for bands like you, it would just make it all easier if we were “on the door”.
I’ll send the single review up when its published on Saturday. I think they might have cut it cos I wrote a lot - I also wrote a review of your Exeter gig and I think they’ve spiked that as well - I have no control on what appears in the paper. In case it don’t get printed, I’ve included what I wrote about you that night.
Could you phone me some time to say whether you’re playing the Roundhouse? Thank you. Best of luck with future gigs - you have got a rare magic, don’t compromise.
Geoff
______________
*Note: George explains that Sharr gave them a bad review which is what Geoff is referring to in the letter. From Geoff's enthusiasm in the letter, I assume they definitely blasted Sharr 'to bits'.
Oh... and happy birthday Mark Hollis, man of rare magic and few compromises.
Mark Hollis @ the Marquee, performing with The Reaction, 1978
If you are new to my blog let me explain: I do this thing where I transcribe audio from Talk Talk interviews where no text is available for the purpose of providing non-English speakers accessibility to those interviews. So, let me make this clear, I claim no rights to the interview and my transcript is solely for accessibility and educational purposes. I must apologize now, I'm really sorry this is taking so long. I've not had a chance to sit down and get to the other two parts of the interview, so I humbly present this very rough draft of the first part of the interview above (the other two parts are linked below). - Update - It's now all done! As always, Brits, if I've clearly messed up something they've said, please let me know in the comments below. If anyone notices some seriously strange typos and grammatical issues in the text, also, let me know. I'll will happily keep this up to date and corrected. Historic Films - Talk Talk Interview (3 parts) Some things to note: We [yup... this is a group effort!] are in the process of trying to pin down exactly where they were. We assumed it was possibly Atlanta, Georgia - September 1, 1982 but have since been corrected as the incident they refer to about the preacher in the news happened on September 3rd and wasn't widely reported in the media until September 6th. I'm tentatively amending this to Miami until someone can definitively correct it for me - show me some proof!) - on tour with Elvis Costello & the Attractions.
The notation (?) throughout the text indicates items where I was not clear on who was speaking or what was being said)
Mark Hollis: … [We] did one for them when we were down there.
Interviewer: Okay, let’s do a mic check quick. Let me just have you tell me what your name is and where you’re from.
Mark: Mark. I’m from London, England.
Interviewer 1: Okay. And…
Paul Webb: Paul I’m from London, in England as well. One. Two.
Interviewer 2: Once again.
Mark: Which one? Me as well? I’m alright.
Paul: One, two. Testing. One. (whistling)
Second Interviewer(?): Is that (unintelligible) mic…
Mark: So do you just work this area?
Interviewer 1: Yeah. We work Florida and the south east, pretty much, yeah. There’s so many recording studios down here that we never really have to leave this area. There’s always someone either coming through on tour or coming down to live and record.
Mark: Sure, sure.
Interviewer 1: So we get a lot of stories out here. We got criteria…
Mark: So how bad is the violence ‘round here. ’Cos, I mean, when I was, like, up in London, like, this cop he was telling me down here is the worst place in the whole of the States.
Interviewer 1: That’s what the image would lead everybody to believe. I dunno. I mean personally -
Mark: But it’s lies, is it?
Interviewer 1: Yeah. It’s nice down here I don’t…
Interviewer 2: Yeah it’s like any place, it depends where you go.
Interviewer 1: Yeah.
Mark: And what you look like.
Interviewer 2: There’s places in London that are terrific and there’s places you just don’t hang out at.
Mark: Oh yeah. That’s right.
Interviewer 1: Yeah, I mean it’s not really a (totally (?)) violent place.
Mark: That’s right. I live at one of them.
Interviewer 1: It’s not that chaotic. I mean, I just read a story in the paper in San Francisco. A street preacher was preaching and someone, a bunch of teenagers taunted him, so he jumped in a Mustang, a ‘65 Mustang, and ran right in to a crowd on the street and killed… I mean, total chaos you know, people… They jumped on this guy and beat him senseless. But anyway, let’s not talk about violence. Talk Talk’s playing tonight. Tell me, give me a little detail on how you’ve hooked up with Elvis Costello.
Mark: Well, a couple of months ago I came over to New York with Keith, our manager. We spent about three days in New York and three days over on the west coast which was primarily just to meet record company people. At the same time, when we were in New York, we were visiting agencies about, sort of, possibilities of what tours to do, you know. Elvis was one of the ones suggested and I mean the reason that we thought it would be a good idea to do the tour with him is just basically, I mean, he is a song writer and he’s gonna appeal to a listening audience, you know. And we wanted to play to an audience who were actually prepared to listen.
Interviewer 1: As opposed to an AC/DC crowd.
Paul: Yeah.
Mark: Sure, and wanting to bang their heads, you know. I mean I got nothing against it, but you know.
Interviewer 1: What can you tell me about, Paul, have you met Elvis personally or?
Paul: Yeah. Well we… Yeah, we’ve met him. But I mean it’s just one of those things where you keep your distance from people.
Mark: Yeah. We’ve met him but we’re never admitting it. You know.
Paul: Yeah.
Mark: It’s one of them things.
Interviewer 1: What makes him, you think, so un-accessible to even the people that tour with him, you’d think that wouldn’t be the case. You’d be more open to talk music with his peers, you know.
Mark: Are we talking about Elvis?
Interviewer 1: Well, I want to talk about you too, but I wanna first …
Mark: Sure. Sure. I hoped you’d say that.
Interviewer 1: I mean nothing special that makes him hard to work with? I mean.. as a tour? Like the fans, for example, think that when bands tour together they’re partying together and they’re hanging around together. That’s not the case all the time, is it?
Mark: No. Like, obviously not. I mean, from a time schedule point of view, I mean, as we’re sort of heading out of the gig he’s heading in to the gig, stuff like that. I mean -
Paul: I mean he’s got the same attitude as we have. We just get on with the job, you know. And I mean we think it’s a bit silly, just all mixing and having… I mean we’re here for a purpose after all, you know. I mean, we’re here to play the States. I mean, he’s here to … whatever..
Interviewer 1: This is your first tour of the states?
Mark: That’s right, yeah.
Interviewer 1: Tell me how it’s been going and describe if you can briefly, your activities over the last six (?)
Mark: Well I mean in terms of an actual tour it’s been quite an easy one because we’ve been having, sort of, one day off out of every four. So it’s been pretty easy going. This thing with Elvis, we actually picked up his tour half way through, so we just essentially doing the east coast. We’ve got about another four more gigs to do with him which ends on the 6th of September. Then we’re going up to New York to do club dates then out to the West Coast to do some of the clubs out there.
Interviewer 1: A lot of your work is very accessible to clubs around…
Mark: Sure. Well, you see that whole club scene is really important in England as much as it is over here. And I mean that’s true of like, the advent of videos. Well, I mean, in England the use of videos in clubs has really been coming on strong recently. I mean, even to the extent where in England now they’ve actually started putting video jukeboxes in the pubs, so that like, you know, for your equivalent of like say about half a dollar, rather than just having the record come up on the machine you can actually watch whatever video you want. I mean-
Paul: In a lot of ways in England video has ‘come more important. Which isn’t a good thing really but there’s a lot of bands that are on the charts in England at the moment who just do videos and just do the records and never play live at all.
Interviewer 1: Why do you think it’s not a good thing from your point of view.
Paul: I think a band should play live, you know. I think they owe it to the people.
Interviewer 1: How does Talk Talk approach the club, do you do video / half live or how do you mix that up? Or you, do you just, I mean…
Mark: We… we see, the way video’s work in Britain is only as like a promotional thing. I mean you’d never use them to actually substitute for a live performance. It’s like, this whole thing with sort of, like synthesizer work and everything like that in general has become an increasingly strong trend in Britain is there are like a couple of drawbacks to it which are… It’s like they’re content on being reliant on sort of using tape, using drum machines and things so that with sort of certain groups they’re not actually capable of delivering live what they can deliver on record. So from that point of view it is a bad thing, you know. It’s sort of almost going to that sort of set up of it being like studio bands rather than performing bands.
Paul: Yeah there’s a few bands in England that are actually lip-syncing live.
Mark: Yeah.
Paul: They’re not actually doing anything. They’re just making nice videos. I mean we’re really into videos and we do ‘em to the best of our ability.
Interviewer 1: How many have you done?
Mark: We’ve done three. Paul: We’ve done three now.
Mark: What we did, we did two videos with-for Talk Talk. We did one with Russell Mulcahy, which was to sort of use the thing of using extras, stuff like that I mean, we actually made that video first for Talk Talk, which is the one you were showing. What actually happened was in England, they actually, there were a lot of shows which refused to play it because they sort of like, you know the fact that we had people sort of without mouths and we had people in it with dark glasses who were like maybe blind people and things. It was sort of considered to be in possibly in bad taste. So what we actually had to do was with Talk Talk was to do an alternative video which would, you know, get shown on certain shows. I mean, we’ve actually now got a new single out in England and we’ve just done a video for that with another director again. What we’ve actually done with that is, with rather than it being a thing where the band is the central subject of the video we’ve got an 8-year-old kid who is sort of like the star of the video you know, in the same way like with our first Talk Talk one the monkey is the obvious star. You know what I mean?
Interviewer 1: You’re seen in the video, but not that much?
Mark: Yeah, I mean we’re in sort of fantasy sequences that this kid has, sorta like, you know, E.T. It’s like, you know, the British version of of E.T.
Interviewer 1: So you like the idea of the different ways videos can be done instead of the band up there playing their instruments?
Mark: Yeah, yeah. I mean it’s really important. I always like in videos if the band are actually in it to see them doing it rather than sort of faking it, you know, doing it as if it were for real. At the same time it’s like with anything if you want it to get repeatedly played it must have things in it aside from just specifically the band performing.
Interviewer 1: That’s what we spoke about earlier, the repeatability factor of that.
Mark: Yeah. Sure, sure.
Paul: Yeah.
Interviewer 1: The club dates that you’ve got scheduled in the States will they include your promotional video clips? In other words, will you maybe show those while you’re backstage and then come out on stage and do it live or do you think they won’t even being showing that?
Mark: I would think they wouldn’t even be showing that. No. I don’t -
Paul: Yeah. I mean we don’t like to cross the two. I mean a video should be a video and a performance should be a performance. And at the moment we don’t think we’re at the stage where we… If you integrate the two it’s gotta be done properly. And we don’t think we’re at that stage yet.
Interviewer 1: There are some bands that have managed to combine the live medium and the video …
Mark: Oh sure, sure.
Interviewer 1: You know (unintelligible) it’s quite successful. It’s like a band warm up instead of having an opening band or something. Show your videos prior to your coming on stage. It gets them all excited about actually seeing you.
Mark: Sure, you see the only problem with doing that with Talk Talk is that they’re gonna wanna know where the monkey is, you know?
Paul: Yeah.
Interviewer 1: You’ll have to bring him on the road with you.
Mark: Yeah.
Interviewer 2: It’s like Devo with Booji Boy. You know those characters.
Interviewer 1: Tell me how you - Mark, you’ve been around the music business for a while. I know your brother Ed Hollis was involved with Eddie and the Hot Rods for a bit?
Mark: That’s right. Sure.
Interviewer 1: And how did that - How do you see your involvement in that? Were you anxious to get started on your own career?
Mark: Well I - It’s like with anything, I mean, with any sort of big brother, you always sort of, look towards what they’re doing. It certainly, sort of made the whole music business that much more apparent to me than otherwise it wouldn’t have done. At the same time, you know, right from sort of, when I was like say 12, and that, he was making me up tapes of music that otherwise I would never have even got to hear. I mean in terms of the actual formation of this band he was important because it actually started around me going in to do some publishing. Like a sort of publishing contract, right. Just purely for songwriting. At the same point my brother Ed was working in another studio, and Lee and Paul who are the rhythm section, were actually working on that session and he suggested to them maybe they come up and sort of try working with me. And it was just something that was really happening so we just sort of took it from there.
Interviewer 1: So the idea of forming a band to perform your music was the best way to go rather than just publish it and let other artists do it.
Mark: Yeah, I mean, obviously, I always would rather have played it than just sort of write it for someone else to do because the actual performance of it is one of the most important things about, sort of, doing music. It was just like, sort of, good fortune, the way it all sort of fell in to place. I mean, right down to - it was like, we had one week in the studio to go in and do some demos for the publishing deal. Within that first week it was obvious things were happening really sort of strongly. So we did the publishing deal, we used the money from the publishing deal to sort of finance us in rehearsal for a six month period. After like five months of being in rehearsal we got hold of Jimmy Miller, you know, he sort of produced things like Jumping Jack Flash, Spencer Davis, Traffic, stuff like that and he came in and did some demos with us. We put those out to the record companies. We then did five, like, London nightclub dates. After the third one of those we got a session on, like, Radio One which is the major radio network in England and after that like the deals really sort of started coming in. It has been very fast. I mean I think we’ve been really lucky [and] fortunate in the timing.
Interview Part 2
Interviewer 1: The demos that you had done were done at Island Studios right?
Mark: Yeah, that’s right.
Interviewer 1: How did you get from Island to EMI America? How come Island didn’t pick you up, ‘cos- ?
Mark: I don’t know. I mean you know they were just like - it’s easier to tell you why we signed with EMI and that was just, you know, like really apparent with a lot of their artists that actually seen developing their careers properly. So that was actually why we signed with EMI in England. And then from there EMI America wanted to take us.
Interviewer 1: Being on the Duran Duran tour probably a great way to break the States too, or that association will help, [do] you think, in this country.
Mark: I don’t think it will help in this country. It certainly helped in England, because when we actually did that tour we were sort of, you know, we were playing to capacity audiences, that we knew, there was, like, a very good probability they were going to like the sort of thing we were doing. So it was certainly good from that point of view. I mean, to me, I think Costello’s a good person to do a tour with over here. I mean, that’s why we chose him.
Interviewer 1: Right, maybe it is, because there… you know, the guitar-less bands, this new trend seems to be a softer, more listenable, rhythmic, you know, thing to be involved in and if you’re exposed to that type of an audience it can only do good things for expanding …
Mark: Sure. Mm. Well you see the whole sort of idea when around this band was actually formed in terms of not using a guitar and everything was sort of not that much in line with a lot of the other sort of contemporary English bands that we’re sort of working with since. Cos like I say there’s like a heavy reliance on drum box and things. I mean the actual thing that I was listening to at that time was.. were people like sort of John Coltrane, you know and it was much more of that idea of, when we formed this band we’ll have… we’ll form it around a small jazz line-up, you know, which is like, keyboards, bass and drums and we sort of substitute the vocal for what the saxophone would be. So it was much more that sort of thing so that as far as like a rhythm section it wouldn’t have to be that sort of, you know, heavily weighed down, sort of, burden really. It could still have the movement, that things need when you’re live, you know and it could have that movement in terms of development. I mean, it’s like this thing with not using guitar or I see, as much as anything, the reason we used it was just to work in that style. It’s like, although guitars seem to be redundant at the moment in England I’m sure it is purely a phase. And I’m sure, like, when we actually start working on our next album there will be ways we will bring guitar in and I mean not to the extent we’re gonna be, sort of, Foreigner or anything.
Interviewer 1: Right. No reliance on amplification as you (move forward?)
Mark: Sure. Sure.
Paul: Yeah. Right.
Interviewer: What.. uh. you are using the producer of Talk Talk, is also the guy who did some work with Bowie and who else did he produce? Colin? Is it Colin Thurston.
Mark: Yeah. Sure. I mean who we’re actually gonna use for our next stuff is, uh, Chris Thomas, you know, more recently has worked with the Pretenders, and sort of earlier with Sex Pistols, you know, Anarchy in the UK, and I mean, the main reason for that is, sort of, this comes back to the same point again is, I just think there’s a very strong danger with a lot of this, sort of, synthesizer music that it can get too laid back in its feel, too soft in its feel. And the reason I think Chris Thomas is, like, a really good choice of producer to use in the future is because take in sort of, Anarchy in the UK as an example, he’s actually transferred that power onto vinyl and at the same time take in the Pretenders as an example, he, sort of, really goes for a strong vocal sound.
Interviewer: Mm hmm. That’s interesting. The, uh, how… what… I’m always curious to know how the band names themselves. Tell me how Talk Talk originated then.
Mark: Well, Talk Talk was actually written at the time the band formed. It was written almost within a couple of days of the band forming. So we just went through all this, sort of, you know, like looking for the name, we went through all of the ridiculous alternatives you can think of, you know, and there was Talk Talk just sort of staring at us, you know. I mean, one of the main reasons I liked it is, I’ve got a hang up with people abbreviating names you know. I just think if you’re the Rolling Stones that’s who you are, you’re not the Stones, you know, and I just like the idea of having two words that were identical words but you couldn’t actually shorten it down into one, you had to just say it like it is.
Interviewer 1: Yeah, you heard someone out back stage just a few minutes ago said on the radio they’re calling you Talk Talk Talk.
Mark: Oi.
Paul: Making it longer now, innit yeah.
Mark: What d’ya say. What d’ya say.
Interviewer: There you go. They’re just uh… did you hear what they’re doing in the parking lot here at this show tonight?
Mark: No.
Interviewer: There’s some radio station that’s giving $50 bills out to people that are listening to that station K102.
Paul: Think I’ll get out there now and do, huh (?)
Interviewer 1: So I hope that people that people come inside. … Just sitting in your car, they’re going to be driving through and if you’re sitting in your car just listening to their radio station…
Interviewer 2: I’m going back out!
Interviewer 1: They’ll be giving $50 bills out so you’ll have to turn it up to draw these people in from throwing out some $50 bills.
Mark: That’s crazy, innit
Interview 1: You never know where their competition’s going to come from. So you’ve got how much longer on this tour and where can we expect to see you around the country?
Mark: We got about another four dates on this tour, then it’s up to New York to do some, like, a few clubs, out to the west coast just to do a few clubs down there and then we go back to England and we do, like, an English tour, European tour and then start on the next album.
Interviewer: Mm hmm. It’ll be a full tilt album this time, not just the EP, it’ll be…
Paul: Well, there’s an album out now.
Mark: Yeah.
Paul: … in England. It’s called ‘The Party’s Over’
Mark: Yeah, and I mean you’re….
Paul: and the EP is like extracts from that album.
Mark: Yeah, I mean, you’re actually getting the full British album will be coming out over here in October. The first week of October. The EP was just like, it was just more than anything like, sort of, a promotional thing. It’s just like let’s put four cuts on a 12” then we got like heavy duty sound and everything and it’s sort of, it’s sort of like an introductory offer, if you like, I mean, what they’re actually doing in addition to that is they’re putting ‘Talk Talk’ as a straight single out this week and they’re B-siding it with our first British single which was called ‘Mirror Man’ then the full British album will be available here the first week of October.
Interviewer 1: How do you think the radio constraints in this country… have you been exposed to the way FM radio here…
Mark: Yeah. I’ve been extremely surprised by the way radio works over here. What it actually seems like what is happening is this … its like because, sort of, it seems like because over everything is commercially orientated in terms of radio stations, they’re playing it extremely safe about what they’re actually gonna play and what they’re not gonna play to ensure ratings. I mean, when I went out to Los Angeles a couple of months ago I went down and visited K-ROCK and I was really sort of pleased to actually see, you know, the way they’re sort of experimenting in terms of what they’re playing.
Interviewer 1: The enthusiasm of the station, K-ROCK is doing
Mark: Oh, it’s superb. And from what I can gather it’s picking up a lot of ratings which is great. I mean, I just hope it will, sort of, influence others to follow the trend.
Paul: ‘Cos on the road, like, a lot of the clubs we’ve been to there seems there’s real underground thing for English music. Like, especially in places like Columbus and that there’s…. They don’t even, they don’t like Lynyrd Skynyrd and Led Zeppelin and they just, they wanna hear the records but they can’t hear it, so you know.
Interviewer 1: It’s a very… It’s American radio’s in that position right now they don’t know which way to go. There’s a backlash of new products, new bands that wanna be heard and (oh lets change tape) and they’re just not getting …
Interview Part 3
Mark: That’s what someone was saying to me. They’re saying, like, maybe there’s five new spots open in any one week for new records. It’s sort of Foreigner, REO [Speedwagon] and Lynard Skynyrd. The three of those bands; there are only really two spots left open, you know.
Mark: I mean, you see, that is something that you don’t actually get in England because, because, sort of, the main radio station in England isn’t a commercial station. There are no restraints on that station like that. I mean the only restraint you got in any ways is just like obviously if you’re in the top forty you’ve got more chance of your record being played than if you’re not in it. But in terms of, like, diversity, it’s extremely diverse.
Interviewer1: The disc jockeys will play new music just for the sake of playing (new music?)
Mark: Yeah, I mean, you know it’s…
Paul: Yeah. They won’t stick with ‘Stairway to Heaven’ for the rest of their life, you know.
Mark: That’s right. And you can have Anarchy in the UK at number ten and Kenny Rogers at number eleven. It really don’t matter.
Paul: Yeah.
Interviewer1: There’s so much concern about the quote unquote aging hippy music, you know that they’ll continue to play the Lynard Skynyrds, the Led Zeppelins to death because what they think is the bulk of their audience the 18 - 34 year olds are now you now you know 28 to 45 or something and they’re still locked into that whole 70’s late 60’s rock and roll and there’s a whole new thing of music that’s around now and I think, the reason, that, you know, the purpose of radio is expose it and let the listeners ultimately decide. Which is different in England because , in this country, they just don’t do that, it’s run too much like a business. How do you find your self handling the business of music. I mean, that it’s been said music being an art form trapped in an industry. I mean you’re all obviously very interested and into your music as an art form and your know, expressing your music on stage. Does the business get in the way of that? Do you find that?
Paul: We just leave that to management really.
Mark: Yeah.
Paul. I mean, we’re aware of what’s going on, but that’s it.
Mark: Yeah. I mean, it’s like anything. Obviously there is a need to be commercial right, at the same time, sort of, if we are in any way commercial, that’s sort of as much through luck as it is through judgement. I mean you know it’s not… we definitely don’t at any time sort of try to compromise what we’re doing in order to make it commercial. You know, but at the same time we do see the importance of being commercial.
Interviewer1: Sure. it’s not premeditated. It just so happens that you write in that vein
Mark: Sure. Sure.
Interviewer: It’s interesting to note that video could possibly be the ingredient that breaks open radio. Uh, as you know videos are selling records. If people see Talk Talk video and like what they see they’re more apt to go and buy that record whether the radio station in their town is playing it or not.
Paul: Mm hmm.
Mark: That’s right. That’s like I say I think the importance of video is getting stronger and stronger all the time. I mean, you know, just from the think of being in England it is extremely strong over there now
Interviewer1: Right. For some bands. It’s interesting also like bands like your self
Mark: Yeah, yeah, obviously.
Interviewer1: I mean you guys visually attractive to the listeners. Your music would express that to them the two go together. Some bands aren’t going to make that transition
Mark: Sure. Sure.
Paul: Yeah. Right.
Interviewer1: You know. What feedback have you gotten from your video? Girls coming round more and uh?
Paul: Oh, of course, you know. Yeah.
Interviewer1: Right. It helps the groupie factor. But, uh. Alright, anything else, John, do you wanna add to this before…
Interviewer2: No. I think that uh…
Interviewer1: I think we got what we need.
Interviewer2: That wraps it up.
Interviewer1: Anything you want to leave the MTV audience saying?
Interviewer2: Any videos?
Interviewer1: Any warning.
Paul: I’ll leave the last word with you, Mark. That’s fine, yeah.
Interviewer1: Okay.
Paul: I think I’ve got a sound check, a sound check.
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Partially published on May 17, 2020. Completed October 28th, 2020. Please feel free to contact me and let me know where I effed up above in terms of spelling or words or punctuation (which I know is terrible).
Thanks to all the great fans I've met and interacted with online for all the support and patience with me, and for providing corrections where necessary.
Special thanks to the Penny, Queen, Curmudgeon and Precious for their moral support.
Of course, thank you Mark Hollis, Lee Harris, Paul Webb (Rustin Man) and Simon Brenner (Angel River) for making Talk Talk every bit of awesome it was. Also: Sir Phill Brown, Tim Friese-Green (Heligoland), Rupert Black, Ian Curnow, Mark Feltham, Jeep Hook, Phil Reis, and James Marsh for all the pretty pictures.
If there is any interview where there is audio that hasn't been transcribed that you would love to read, let me know. I'll happily look for text online for you and if none exists I will certainly do my best to provide a transcription to the best of my ability. If you have requested something from me and I haven't delivered yet, absolutely bug me again. My brain ain't what it used to be.
