“It's My Life” by Talk Talk

"It's My Life" was the title track of Talk Talk's second album and its first single, out in 1984, and it's the English band at their sleekest: a synth-pop pulse built for the dance floor but carrying a strange, melancholy weight. Mark Hollis wrote it with Tim Friese-Greene, who also produced it and piled on synthesizer, drum machine, piano and drums himself.

Around them the credits run deep. Lee Harris shares the drumming, Paul Webb's fretless bass slides underneath and joins Hollis on backing vocals, Robbie McIntosh adds guitar, Ian Curnow and Phil Ramocon handle more keys and piano, and Morris Pert brings percussion. Hollis sings with that aching, half-swallowed croon of his, as if he's pulling away even as the beat pulls you in.

It was a moderate hit almost everywhere: number 31 on the Billboard Hot 100 (their only American top 40 hit), 46 in Britain, nine in Italy, and number one on Billboard's Dance/Disco Top 80. Home took its time catching on. A 1985 reissue managed only 93, but when it came back in May 1990 to promote the compilation Natural History: The Very Best of Talk Talk, it reached 13, the band's highest chart placing in the UK.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.