Life's What You Make It

This is one of those songs that is always there for me, a pleasure to hear whenever it comes up and a song I'd put in a lifetime top 50 if I had to ever compile such a list- most recently it came up with this clip on Dutch TV from 1985, Talk Talk on TopPop, playing/ miming Life's What You Make It. 

The guitar is a little over the top for our 21st century ears perhaps but the proto- Balearic drums and piano and Mark Hollis' passionate vocal are perfect in every way. This is from the 12", an extended version released in January 1986. 

Life's What You Make It (Extended)

There's nothing I can say about the song that can add to it, you just have to listen to it. The words can mean as much or as little as you want them to in a way- 'Baby life's what you make it/ Celebrate it/ Anticipate it/ Yesterday's faded/ Nothing can change it/  Life's what you make it'. 

In 2009 Rowland S. Howard, guitarist in The Birthday Party and The Boy's Next Door (his and Nick Cave's first band), recorded a solo album called Pop Crimes. Rowland was unwell at the time, Hepatitis C having brought on liver cancer and he died at the end of December 2009. His cover of Life's What You Make It is heard very differently under those circumstances. 

Life's What You Make It

Isolation Mix Seven

An hour and a minute of stitched together songs for Saturday. This one caused me a bit of a headache at times. It was an attempt I think at first to try to join some dots together in terms of feel or sounds, with a nod to Kraftwerk following Florian Schneider's death last week. There was an earlier version that went quite techno/dance for the last twenty minutes but I then went back and did the end section again. I'm still not sure I got it quite right, and think I may have tried to cover too many bases stylistically, but my self imposed deadline was approaching so 'publish and be damned', as the Duke of Wellington said. Although he wasn't dealing with the business of trying to get spaghetti westerns, indie dance, shoegaze and leftfield electronic music to sit together in one mix was he?

Ennio Morricone: Watch Chimes (From ‘For A Few Dollars More’)

David Sylvian and Robert Fripp: Endgame

Talk Talk: Life’s What You Make It

Saint Etienne: Kiss And Make Up (Midsummer Madness Mix)

Spacemen 3: Big City (Everyone I Know Can Be Found Here)

Beyond The Wizards Sleeve: Diagram Girl (Beyond The Wizards Sleeve Re- Animation)

My Bloody Valentine: Don’t Ask Why

Jon Hopkins and Kelly Lee Owens: Luminous Spaces

Kraftwerk: Numbers

Death In Vegas: Consequences Of Love (Chris and Cosey Remix)

Chris Carter: Moonlight

Simple Minds: Theme For Great Cities

Durutti Column: It’s Wonderful

I have a significant birthday fast approaching. A few months ago we had planned that today would be a day of celebrating with anyone who wanted to join us, starting with lunch and few beers in town and then a tram pub crawl southbound out of the city centre towards Sale, stopping off in Old Trafford (maybe) and Stretford (definitely) before some drinks locally in the evening. That obviously isn't happening. I'll have to re-schedule for my 51st. 

Mark Hollis

Sad news yesterday came with the announcement of the death of Mark Hollis aged 64. As the lead songwriter and singer of Talk Talk he made some of the most interesting and experimental pop of the 1980s and he wrote and recorded songs which I hold in high regard. I know some of you feel the same. He had largely retired from music after 1998's solo album, deciding that being a touring musician and a parent weren't compatible, but his music has never gone away, continuing to hold sway beneath the surface. I have loved this song for many years and I will continue to play it and love it for many more to come and while it may be the obvious choice some songs are the obvious choice because they are great songs. Life's What You Make It is wonderful and sage, lead piano from Mark over a brilliant drumbeat and Mark's soaring vocals, a song that you can slot onto any mixtape or into any DJ set.

Life's What You Make It

As an extra Tomorrow Started is from 1984's It's My Life, a sidestep away from New Romantic pop and into something else and something new, with producer Tim Friese-Greene at the controls, poetry and avant-pop.

Tomorrow Started

'Before you play two notes, learn how to play one note And don't play one note unless you've got a reason to play it'
Mark Hollis.

Everything's Alright

I was given a Talk Talk 12" single for Christmas. Within a few days it was Mark Hollis' 64th birthday. It seems remiss of me not to post something to pay tribute to this. The 12" included this dub mix of Such A Shame from 1983 which is not essential but for some reason I really like. A very 1983 use of technology and the spare time and inches offered by the format.

Such A Shame (Dub Mix)

That led me to digging around in my physical and digital Talk Talk collection and I uncovered this.

Life's What You Make It (Extended Remix)

Again, not essential maybe- the single version of Life's What You Make It is one of those songs I will keep listening to for decades to come- but this version stretches it out and offers a different view of the song. And that's more than enough.

Life's What You Make It

Back in January 2010 when I was only a few posts into the blogging game I posted this song by Rowland S Howard. He died of liver cancer just a few days earlier, 30th December 2009. Rowland recorded his album Pop Crimes while ill and this song, a cover of Talk Talk's Life's What You Make It, has a slightly different perspective when sung by someone who knows their time is up.

Life's What You Make It

Aged just sixteen Rowland wrote Shivers, recorded by pre-Birthday Party band Boys Next Door. Strange to think that Nick Cave was actually this young once.

Life's What You Make It

Baby, life's what you make it
Can't escape it.

Spirit Of Brooks

Reader Echorich recommends listening to Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden while looking at pictures of 20s It Girl Louise Brooks.

Here's Talk Talk (video only I'm afraid, I'm using a lot of bandwidth at Boxnet this month posting stuff which people actually want)...



And here are some pictures of Louise Brooks...

It's one way of passing the time.

03 Life's What You Make It.wma