Mark Hollis (musician)

Mark David Hollis (born 4 January 1955, Tottenham, London) is an English musician, singer-songwriter. He achieved commercial success in the 1980s as singer with the synthpop/post-rock band Talk Talk, but retired from the music industry after his 1998 solo debut album.

Biography

The younger brother of Ed Hollis, a disc jockey and producer who went on to manage bands such as Eddie and the Hot Rods, Hollis originally planned to become a child psychologist but in 1975 left university to relocate to London, where he eventually formed a band called The Reaction. In 1977, The Reaction recorded a demo for Island Records; among the tracks was a Hollis original titled "Talk Talk" which later surfaced on the Beggars Banquet punk compilation Streets. After just one single, 1978's "I Can't Resist," The Reaction disbanded, and through his brother, Hollis was first introduced to musicians Paul Webb, Lee Harris and Simon Brenner, with whom he formed Talk Talk in 1981, soon signing to the EMI label.

Hollis is most famous as the lead singer of the band Talk Talk, and was praised for his "always remarkable voice."^[1] It was he, along with unofficial Talk Talk member Tim Friese-Greene, who took the lead in evolving the band's style from New Romantic into what would later become known as post-rock.

	"The Colour of Spring" Excerpt from "The Colour of Spring", the opening track from Hollis' solo album
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In 1998, he released an eponymous solo debut album, Mark Hollis,^[2] and participated in occasional musical projects, including playing on and producing Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving.^[3] He has now retired from the music business.^[4] He has stated about his decision to retire from performing, "I choose for my family. Maybe others are capable of doing it, but I can't go on tour and be a good dad at the same time."^[5] Despite Hollis's absence from the public eye, he (as well as Talk Talk) continue to be mentioned in the press, inside Britain and outside, often as an example of an artist who refused to sacrifice his artistic ambition to commercial success and as a yardstick for current artists.^[6][7][8]

In 2004, Hollis resurfaced briefly to receive a Broadcast Music Inc. award for having written "It's My Life." ^[9] His withdrawal from the public continues to fascinate music critics.^[4][10] By the time his solo album was released Hollis had moved back from the countryside to London, in order to provide his two sons with a more cosmopolitan environment.^[11]

In 2012, a previously unreleased instrumental track ARB Section 1 was used in Kelsey Grammer's TV Show Boss.^[12]

Solo discography

• Mark Hollis (1998)

Collaborations

• Hollis played the piano on the track 'Piano' from the 1998 minimalist album AV 1, by Phill Brown and Dave Allinson, under the pseudonym John Cope.
• Hollis played piano on and co-wrote the track "Chaos" on the 1998 trip hop album Psyence Fiction by Unkle (he later asked for his name to be removed from the album credits).
• Hollis produced, arranged one track ("The Gown") and produced and arranged another ("Big Mouth") on Anja Garbarek's 2001 album Smiling & Waving.

References