"It's My Life" was my theme song in the 80's
RIP Mark 
Farewell to Talk Talk’s Mark Hollis, the Transcendent Musical Icon Who Never Wanted to Be One
At the height of their commercial success, Mark Hollis and Talk Talk swore off commercial pressures and made two of the most groundbreaking albums ever. We’re all better for it.
“You should never listen to music as background music.”
For musicians, those words from Mark Hollis, who has reportedly died at 64, compose an eternal battle cry that will seemingly never lose its power.
As the frontman of Talk Talk, Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano, and all songwriting—and even that sounds reductive) oversaw one of the most radical transformations of a pop act in music history. He refused to craft his music around what label execs and pop charts thought his listeners wanted. He refused to serve as yet another pop persona who happens to make music. And he refused to make music for the sake of selling records.
Without Mark Hollis, there would arguably be no Radiohead, no Sigur Rós, no Explosions in the Sky, no post-rock.
His music served as the holy grail for music lovers—people who love music not just for the stimuli but for the craft itself and how it serves as a portal into the artist’s mind and into worlds they cannot explore on their own—as Hollis, himself a music obsessive, rewarded listeners who are in constant pursuit of answers on how music works.
Talk Talk, which Hollis co-founded in 1981, achieved mainstream commercial success mid-decade with songs like “Talk Talk,” “Such a Shame,” and the synthpop anthem “It’s My Life,” which became a 2003 hit for No Doubt. But beneath the veneer of tightly constructed new-wave was a subversive creative streak desperate to be unleashed.
Though Talk Talk were pop stars, Hollis spent more time thinking about such jazz giants as Miles Davis and John Coltrane and French impressionist composers Claude Debussy and Erik Satie.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/farewell-to-talk-talks-mark-hollis-the-transcendent-musical-icon-who-never-wanted-to-be-one?ref=scroll
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Gawd, I love that song "It's My Life." One of my big time faves.
Not my bag, but I understand. Some music just touches you like other music can't. I was wrecked when Leon Russell passed on....
Yet another talent lost to us.
all of my heroes are slowly going away
I loved Talk Talk and especially Mark Hollis's haunting voice. I thought he was brilliant, yet there was something very sad about him. I don't know what happened to him, but I hope he passed peacefully. RIP Mark.
Played that cassette tape to death. Such an under appreciated group and album.
