Tidy Tune 2019 #26/28 I Can't Resist - The Reaction (Mark Hollis R.I.P.)

I Can't Resist/I'm A Case - The Reaction 

Island Records 

Produced by Ed Hollis 

Released 1978

Listen To Both A and B-Sides Here:

Living In Another World (12" Extended Mix) - Talk Talk
EMI
Released March 1986
UK Chart #48

 Mark Hollis
4th January 1955 - 25th February 2019
Rest In Peace

Most people's introduction to Mark Hollis would have been via his band Talk Talk during the the 1980s but for some of us it came a few years earlier when his band The Reaction first appeared on vinyl performing 'Talk Talk Talk Talk'  on the Beggars Banquet compilation 'Streets' in 1977 along with a bunch of other punk/new wave rogues like The Art Attacks, The Drones, Slaughter and the Dogs, John Cooper Clarke, The Members, The Doll and The Lurkers.

His older brother, Ed Hollis was already involved in music particularly working alongside Eddie and the Hot Rods. The Reaction were very 60's influenced and it's no wonder a few Mods who sprung up in the Mod Revival frequently name their one and only single (which Ed produced)  'I Can't Resist' as a worthy catch.

After releasing the single the band went their separate ways and via his brother Ed, Mark met Simon Brenner, Lee Harris and Paul Webb, with whom he would form Talk Talk in 1981.

I must admit that I was not a huge Talk Talk fan (though I'm sure today you will find many articles or people on Social Media touting them as if they were the best thing since sliced bread, but in these matters it's always best to be honest. It was probably because they got lumped in with the New Romantics that I didn't take to them) but there were quite a few singles I enjoyed and listening back to them since I heard the news last night of his death I was amazed at how a few of them still hold some clout today ('It's My Life', 'Life's What You Make It' for example).

Our condolences to his family at this sad time.