Album dossier / 1984

It's My Life

Talk Talk · Synth-Pop/New Wave

Talk Talk's second album marked the arrival of Tim Friese-Greene as producer, co-writer and de facto fourth member after original keyboardist Simon Brenner departed; his atmospheric arrangements alongside Mark Hollis's brooding vocals moved the band beyond their early Duran Duran-adjacent synth-pop tag, and though only a modest UK hit on release, the title track later became a worldwide hit via cover versions and belated recognition. Hollis picked Friese-Greene specifically because he'd just produced three stylistically unrelated hits (Tight Fit's 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight', Blue Zoo's 'Cry Boy Cry', Thomas Dolby's 'She Blinded Me With Science') without imposing a signature sound -- in a 1984 interview archived by muzines.co.uk, Hollis describes him as someone who "understands totally the spirit of music" and never let technical polish override feeling. Guitarist Robbie McIntosh (later of the Pretenders) was brought in on Friese-Greene's recommendation; by 1986, Friese-Greene told Home & Studio Recording magazine he'd effectively become a permanent band member, having co-written and produced Talk Talk's material for three straight LPs.