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History Revisited: The Remixes

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History Revisited: The Remixesis a 1991 album comprisingremixesof hitTalk Talksongs. It followed the successful greatest hits collectionNatural History,released the year before. The band itself did not take part in the making of the album and condemned its release; consequently, they sued their former record labelEMIfor using Talk Talk material without permission.

History Revisited: The Remixes
Remix albumby
Talk Talk
Released25 March 1991[1]
Recorded1982–1990
Genre
Length57:24
LabelParlophone/EMI
ProducerTim Friese-Greene
Talk Talkchronology
Natural History
(1990) 		History Revisited: The Remixes
(1991) 		Laughing Stock
(1991)

Background

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Talk Talk formed in 1981 and released four albums withEMI.Around the time ofSpirit of Eden(1988), the band attempted to extract themselves from theirrecording contractwith EMI. 18 months of litigation followed.[2]Ultimately, Talk Talk won the case on appeal, and in 1990 they left EMI and moved toPolydor.Soon after, EMI released the compilationNatural History,a retrospective of Talk Talk's career up until that point. The compilation was surprisingly successful: it spent 21 weeks on theUK Albums Chart,peaking at #3,[3]and went on to sell over one million copies worldwide.[4]

Remixes

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To promoteNatural History,EMI reissued the singles "It's My Life","Life's What You Make It","Such a Shame",and"Living in Another World"in 1990 and 1991. Newremixesfor the singles' 12-inch and CD formats were commissioned and all four reissues peaked within the top 100 of theUK Singles Chart.[3]The new remixes, prepared by relatively unknown musicians outside of the band, became the basis forHistory Revisited.They were collected together and three more tracks were added to complete the compilation: new remixes for past singles "Talk Talk"and" Dum Dum Girl "and a remix of" Happiness is Easy "that Talk Talk membersLee HarrisandPaul Webbhad made in 1986.[5]

The remixes collected onHistory Revisitedmodified the source material liberally. According to EMI publicity at the time, they are "Talk Talk through the dance keyhole, taking the diverse sounds of their eighties output and giving it a nineties groove."[6]Keith Aspden, the band's manager, observed, "They haven't just remixed what is already there. They have practically replaced all the instruments with newpoppydance sounds from other people's records, even including an African chant. "[6]He commented, "It's a distortion—more likeHistory Reinvented".[4]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Q[7]
Select[9]

History Revisitedwas released throughout the world in March 1991. It spent two weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #35.[3]Barry Mcllheney ofQmagazine called the album an "interesting example of how anyone with a good tune under their belts can be made instantly danceable with the application of the correct knobs at the appropriate moments."[10]James Neiss ofRecord Collectorthought otherwise, saying, "Talk Talk got most of their complex originals right first time around. The songs simply don't work with a different beat slung underneath."[4]Writing forSelect,Nick Griffiths thought the remixes ruined the band's original material.[9]Chris Woodstra ofAllMusicgave it a poor rating, saying, "A nice companion piece for fans, but probably the least essential of their catalog."[11]

Band response and lawsuit

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Talk Talk leaderMark Holliswas very unhappy when he found out aboutHistory Revisited.He toldMelody Maker:

I've never heard any of this stuff and I don't want to hear it... but to have people putting this stuff out under your name which is not you, y'know, I want no part of it. It's always been very important to me that I've got on with the people we've worked with. People's attitude has always been really important to me. So much of why someone would exist on one of our albums is what they are like as a person. So to find you've got people you've never given the time of day to going out as though it's you... it's disgusting.[12]

Before it was released, Hollis sent letters requesting that the compilation be stopped, but EMI did not respond.[12]In November 1991, Talk Talk sued EMI, delivering fourwritsagainst their former record label.[13]The band claimed that material had been falsely attributed to them and that they were owed money from unpaid royalties.[13][6]Talk Talk won the case in 1992, and EMI agreed to withdraw and destroy all remaining copies of the album.[14][15]Manager Keith Aspden hoped that the case would set a precedent for future recording contracts.[6]

Laughing Stock,released in 1991, ended up being Talk Talk's final studio album. EMI released several more Talk Talk compilations throughout the 1990s and 2000s, thoughHistory Revisitedremains out of print.

Track listing

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  1. "Living in Another World – '91" – 4:40
  2. "Such a Shame" – 5:41
    • Remixed by Gary Miller
  3. "Happiness is Easy (Dub)" – 7:02
    • Remixed by Paul Webb and Lee Harris
  4. "Today" – 3:24
    • Remixed by Gary Miller
  5. "Dum Dum Girl (Spice Remix)" – 4:59
  6. "Life's What You Make It" – 6:14
    • Remixed by BBG
  7. "Talk Talk" – 5:22
    • Remixed by Gary Miller
  8. "It's My Life (Tropical Rainforest Mix)" – 5:58
    • Remixed by Dominic Woosey and JJ Montana
  9. "Living in Another World (Curious World Dub Mix)" – 7:48
    • Remixed by 4 to the Floor
  10. "Life's What You Make It (The Fluke Remix)" – 6:16

References

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  1. ^"New Releases: Albums"(PDF).Music Week.23 March 1991. p. 25.Retrieved25 August2022.
  2. ^Jim Irvin, "Paradise Lost,"Mojo,March 2006, 54.
  3. ^abcTim Rice, Paul Gambaccini, and Jonathan Rice,The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums,7th ed. (Guinness World Records Limited, 1996).
  4. ^abcJames Neiss, "Talk TalkArchived11 October 2006 at theWayback Machine,"Record Collector,December 1991.
  5. ^Ferenc Rozsa, "Talk Talk DiscographyArchived13 February 2008 at theWayback Machine",Another World,2004.
  6. ^abcd"History Revisited: Pop remix faces legal challenge,"The Independent.
  7. ^Q review
  8. ^AllMusic review
  9. ^abGriffiths, Nick (April 1991)."Reviews: The New Discs".Select:84.Retrieved17 January2019.
  10. ^Barry Mcllheney, review ofHistory Revisited,by Talk Talk,Q.
  11. ^Chris Woodstra, review ofHistory Revisited,by Talk Talk,AllMusic.
  12. ^abSteve Sutherland, "Talk Talk: Silencing the ScamsArchived11 October 2006 at theWayback Machine,"Melody Maker,September 1991.
  13. ^abEncyclopedia of Rock Stars,1st ed., s.v. "Talk Talk."
  14. ^Mark Roland, ed., "Info Freako: It's the Hollis!Archived5 February 2012 at theWayback Machine,"Melody Maker,November 1995.
  15. ^David Stubbs, "Mark Hollis: Talking LibertiesArchived11 October 2006 at theWayback Machine,"VOX,February 1998.
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