A personal journey, Part I.

Twenty-five years ago this fall, progarchist editor Craig Breaden and I were in Waterloo Records, Austin, Texas.  There it was on the shelves—the final Talk Talk album, LAUGHING STOCK, in all of its James Marsh-esque glory.  Of course, I purchased it as quickly as possible.  After all, it had just come out, and Craig and I were living in pre-internet days in northern Utah.  We had a music store nearby, but however good it was—and, frankly, it was pretty good—it wouldn’t have dreamt of carrying anything by a band so strange as Talk Talk.

So fortunate we were at a history conference in Texas at the same moment as LAUGHING STOCK’s release.

Craig and I were not only officemates and apartment mates, but we were best friends and music mates.  How many hours flew by with Craig and I devouring music—old and new—and then discussing and analyzing every bit of it.  I still cherish these nights and even weekend-days as some of the best of my life.  Though I’d grown up in a house that respected nearly every form of music, I had never been introduced to some of the great psychedelic and experimental rock acts of the late 1960s and early 1970s.  Unless it was by Yes, Genesis, or Jethro Tull, I really didn’t know it.  Craig played Procol Harum, Soft Machine, Spooky Tooth, and Traffic for me.  I fell in love with each.  As the time Craig and I (and another close friend, Joel) were spending so much time together, the music scene itself was going through a bit of a psychedelic revival—with World Party, Charlatans, and others—and this only added to our excitement.

As soon as we returned from Austin, I recorded the full album of LAUGHING STOCK on each side of a double-sided TDK cassette and enthusiastically played this tape over and over and over and over. . . . Even though Craig and I had shared many enthusiasms with each other, this obsession with Talk Talk seemed more than a bit too enthusiastic to Craig.

Understandably so.

By sheer force of will, I fear, Craig had to accept this or our friendship would suffer!  Of course, here we are, a quarter of a century later, still very close friends and co-editors of progarchy. . . . You know the story ended well.

For nearly thirty years, I instantly answered the question of “what is your favorite band” with Talk Talk and Rush.  If pushed a bit more, I would add Tears for Fears and, depending on my mood, Genesis or Yes or XTC.  This rote answer became almost proudly knee-jerk on my part.

When challenged about this opinion, I rather haughtily pointed to THE COLOUR OF SPRING, SPIRIT OF EDEN, and LAUGHING STOCK.  After all, who could top fourteen months a shot, recording in dark, deserted churches, challenging every single bit of corporate conformity in the music business.

Mark Hollis, Tim-Friese-Green, and Phill Brown were not just three more musicians in the industry, they lingered as demi-gods at the very edge of Valhalla itself, ready to release Ragnoräk at any moment.  And, power to them!  As far as I was concerned, the music industry needed and deserved a revolution.

Recently, I’ve realized that Talk Talk no longer holds top spot in my mind when it comes to bands (Big Big Train has finally replaced Talk Talk in my mind and in my soul), but it will always be in the top three for me.  For too many years, Talk Talk was my go-to band, my comfort and my first love in the world of music.  To this day—and, I presume, to the end of my days—the final three albums the band made will always be the three by which I judge every other release in the music world.  Few albums or bands, then or now, can measure up to such heights.  But, such is my mind and soul.

Part II to come soon. . . .  In the meantime, enjoy 19 minutes of Hollis talking about LAUGHING STOCK.