2. Talk TalkSpirit Of Eden

The rumour goes that when the guys from the record company [wanted to] hear Spirit Of Eden, knowing the commercial success of The Colour Of Spring, Talk Talk wouldn’t let them hear a note until the album was finished. They took a long time. The story goes that the label guy went to the studio, they lit some candles and put on that record and he cried and left. To this day they don’t know whether he was moved or thought it was terrible. But from a personal point of view, they started out by their own admission as a Duran Duran copy band. I was tempted to put a solo record [by Mark Hollis] on the list as well. But I thought that was labouring the point.