It's My Life (album)

For the album by Sash!, see It's My Life – The Album.
"Dum Dum Girl" redirects here; not to be confused with Dum Dum Girls.

It's My Life
Studio album by
Talk Talk
Released13 February 1984 (1984-02-13)[1]
Recorded1983
GenreSynth-pop[2]
Length43:13
LabelEMI (UK)
EMI America (US)
ProducerTim Friese-Greene
Talk Talk chronology
The Party's Over
(1982) 		It's My Life
(1984) 		The Colour of Spring
(1986)
Singles from It's My Life
  1. "It's My Life"
    Released: 3 January 1984 (1984-01-03)[3]
  2. "Such a Shame"
    Released: 26 March 1984 (1984-03-26)[4][5]
  3. "Dum Dum Girl"
    Released: 16 July 1984 (1984-07-16)[6][7]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusicStarStarStarStar[8]
Encyclopedia of Popular MusicStarStarStar[9]
MojoStarStar[10]
QStarStarStar[11]
Uncut8/10[12]

It's My Life is the second studio album by English band Talk Talk, released by EMI on 13 February 1984.

The cover of the album was designed by James Marsh, incorporating elements of The Boyhood of Raleigh by John Everett Millais.

Release

It's My Life was a top 5 hit album in several European countries, thanks to the international success of its singles (notably "Such a Shame"), and was particularly successful in Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany, where the album peaked at numbers 2, 3 and 4, respectively.[13] In the Netherlands, the album stayed in the charts for 64 weeks between 1984 and 1986.[13] It also reached number 35 in the UK albums chart.[14] In the United States, the album just missed the top 40, reaching number 42.[15]

In 2000, it was voted number 872 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[16]

In 2021, Rhino Entertainment re-released the album on limited edition purple vinyl.[17]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Dum Dum Girl"
3:51
2."Such a Shame"Hollis5:42
3."Renée"Hollis6:22
4."It's My Life"
  • Friese-Greene
  • Hollis
3:50
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Tomorrow Started"Hollis5:57
2."The Last Time"
  • Ian Curnow
  • Hollis
4:23
3."Call in the Night Boy"
  • Simon Brenner
  • Hollis
3:47
4."Does Caroline Know?"Hollis4:40
5."It's You"Hollis4:41

Personnel

Talk Talk

  • Mark Hollis – vocals
  • Lee Harris – drums
  • Paul Webb – bass guitar

Additional musicians

Technical

  • Tim Friese-Greene – producer
  • Walter Samuel – mixing ("Call in the Night Boy")
  • James Marsh – cover illustration
  • KB4Ai – design

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
France (SNEP)[30] Gold  
Germany (BVMI)[31] Gold 250,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[32] Platinum 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "New Albums" (PDF). Music Week. 11 February 1984. p. 23. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  2. ^ Mitchell, Matt (21 July 2023). "The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time". Paste. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  3. ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 7 January 1984. p. 10. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  4. ^ "News". Record Mirror. 24 March 1984. p. 4. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  5. ^ "Records". Number One. 24 March 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  6. ^ "News". Record Mirror. 14 July 1984. p. 6. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via Flickr.
  7. ^ "New Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 14 July 1984. p. 14. Retrieved 2 December 2025 – via World Radio History.
  8. ^ Woodstra, Chris. "It's My Life – Talk Talk". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (2009). "Talk Talk". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-199-72636-3. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  10. ^ Eccleston, Danny (May 2012). "Lost Horizon". Mojo (222). London: 100. ISSN 1351-0193.
  11. ^ Roberts, David (October 2000). "Talk Talk: It's My Life". Q (169). London. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  12. ^ Wallace, Wyndham (December 2017). "Talk Talk: The Party's Over / It's My Life". Uncut (247). London: 44.
  13. ^ a b c "Dutchcharts.nl – Talk Talk – It's My Life" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  14. ^ a b "Official Albums Chart on 25/2/1984 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  15. ^ a b "Talk Talk Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  16. ^ Colin Larkin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 268. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
  17. ^ "Start Your Ear Off Right with Talk Talk, Danny Elfman, and More | Rhino". Rhino.com. 15 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Talk Talk – It's My Life" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  19. ^ "Charts.nz – Talk Talk – It's My Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  20. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Talk Talk – It's My Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Talk Talk – It's My Life". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
  22. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart on 16/10/2020 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  23. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista (fizikai hanghordozók) – 2024. 41. hét". MAHASZ. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  24. ^ "Official Progressive Albums Chart on 22/11/2024 – Top 30". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 July 2025.
  25. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1984". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  26. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  27. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1984". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  28. ^ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1985". Dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  29. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  30. ^ "French album certifications – Talk Talk – It's My life" (in French). InfoDisc. Select TALK TALK and click OK. 
  31. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Talk Talk; 'It's My Life')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 24 August 2019.
  32. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Talk Talk – It's My Life" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 24 August 2019. Enter It's My Life in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1988 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
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