Double Speak

In the almost 33 years since I saw my first concert{OMD at Hammersmith Odean Dec 16th 1980}I've learned that sometimes it's worth getting there early to catch the opening act.
Granted over the years there have been some opening acts who were instantly forgettable but also some who were really good but never quite took off......and then there are those who became headliners,Talk Talk fall very much into the latter category.

I'll go out on a limb here and guess that someone at EMI thought it would be a good idea to have Talk Talk open for Duran Duran on their 1981 pre Christmas UK tour,whatever the logic behind that choice I hereby wholeheartedly endorse that decision!
Even though I didn't know who Talk Talk were and didn't know any of their songs that nite they left a huge impression on yours truly in Dec 81 and when they released their debut single ''Mirror Man" the following February I was quick to rush out and buy it.
Two months later the single "Talk Talk" was released,like "Mirror Man" it failed to make the Top 40 but it did pave the way for their debut album"The Party's Over" in July which I still rate as one of the best 80's debut albums.
"Today" finally gave them a Top 20 hit and then they re released "Talk Talk" which at the second time of asking was a hit.
It didn't hurt their success any when they were asked to open for the Genesis reunion show at Milton Keynes in  October,I suspect many a Genesis fan became overnite Talk Talk fans

I just listened to their second album "It's My Life" the other day,it's as good as if not better than "The Party's Over" and while it yielded three great singles,"It's My Life","Such A Shame" and "Dum Dum Girl" for me it's  a track like "It's You" that makes me sit up and take notice in the same way the title track "The Party's Over" had the same effect on me on their debut album.
By 1986 things had come full circle,I was back at Hammersmith Odean to see Talk Talk only this time they were headlining in support of their third album "The Colour Of Spring"
This album would mark a significant change in Talk Talk's future,their commercial success ended w/  the singles "Life's What You Make It" and "Living In Another World".

Two years later when "Spirit Of Eden" was released Talk Talk had seemingly abandoned their "pop" roots and gone for a more improvised sound w/ elements of  jazz,classical and ambient music making up their sound,to this day I don't own a copy of "Spirit Of  Eden" and I've probably only listened to it's follow up "Laughing Stock" once since buying it in 1991,if you listen to tracks like "April 5th" and "Chameleon Day" on "The Colour Of Spring" you can hear the shift in their musical direction,the fact there was no tour for "Spirit Of Eden" pretty much marked the beginning of the end for Talk Talk as we'd come to know and love them but as the years have gone by their final two albums have been often cited as influential to the likes of Sigur Ros,Mogwai,God Speed You Black Emperor and later work of Radiohead while artists like Catherine wheel,Sarah McLachlan and Doves have heaped praise on "Spirit Of Eden".