MELODY MAKER, November 18 1995

INFO FREAKO

Edited by Mark Roland

Send your questions to: INFO FREAKO, Melody Maker, 26th Floor,
King's Reach Tower, Stamford Street, London SE1 9LS.
The Question Of The Week wins a 10 UK Pounds record token
 

It's The Hollis!

Please can you shed some light on what Talk Talk are doing at the present time?
Since the release of "Laughing Stock" in 1991, I've heard nothing about the band
or singer Mark Hollis. Any information would be helpful.
D Tubbs, Somerset

Since Talk Talk's acrimonious departure from EMI Records in 1989, the band signed
to Polydor and have released just one album, "Laughing Stock" (Verve LP/CD,
847717-1/2, September 1991). Shortly before the album came out, their former label,
EMI, released a collection of remixes under the title "History Revisited - The Remixes"
(Parlophone LP/CD, PCS/CDPCS 7349, February 1991) against the band's wishes.
The members of Talk Talk, (Mark Hollis, Paul Webb, Lee Harris and Tim Friese-Greene),
sued EMI and, in 1992, won their case. Although Mark Hollis remains signed to the
Polydor off-shoot, Verve, no new material has come out since 1991. Rumours have
abounded about a new album, but the most reliable reports place Hollis in a studio near
his rural retreat, still trying to finish it. Tim Friese-Greene has turned his attention to
producing, his first high-profile work being with Suffolk rockers The Catherine Wheel.
Paul Webb and Lee Harris, meanwhile, formed a new band called Orang and signed
to the Chrysalis subsidiary, Echo, and have released one album, "Herd Of Instinct"
(Echo LP/CD, ECHLP/CD2, July 1994). They are currently finishing their second opus,
which is due for release in March and has been described as sounding more like Talk Talk
during their "The Colour Of Spring" album period, than the minimalist pop of the debut.