Mark Hollis 1955 – 2019

Today I opened the news app in the morning and immediately got saddened by the announcement, that Mark Hollis, the lead singer of the music band Talk Talk has died on February 25, 2019.

I am still surprised how this sad new has impacted me. Pure power of music, that has proven itself in more than thirty years. I just could not resist and right away put on their The Very Best of Talk Talk to play throughout the house.

Talk Talk had impacted me at the beginning of my musical career. I saw them for the first time on the Austrian TV. It was in 1984, a live broadcast of the German TV show Rockpalast. Living in the former Czechoslovakia, at that time our TV-sets were not capable to receive sound from the “western” world. Only pictures. But I managed to get quite acceptable sound through a “feedback”, when positioning a transistor radio close to the TV-set. It was a good-enough set up, to be able to recognize the quality of music these guys were producing.

Ever since that time, Talk Talk has had a special place in my music collection and in my life. Mark Hollis’ haunting voice over vast synthesizer landscapes requires a proper listening attention. In my case, it is music for special moments – regardless whether happy or sad. It is just that once in a while I feel this special need to play their unique sounding music. To feel better, calmer, happier …

RIP Mark.