“Dum Dum Girl” (1984) – Talk Talk * Written by Mark Hollis and Tim Friese-Greene * 45: “Dum Dum Girl” / “Without You” * LP: It’s My Life * Produced by Tim Friese-Greene * Label: EMI
The year 1984 seemed to be Talk Talk’s most cheerful one, in which the pop world these future post-rock icons inhabited made them laugh in a way it couldn’t make them do in later years. All three of the Tim Pope-directed videos for their It’s My Life album (“Such a Shame,” “It’s My Life” and “Dum Dum Girl”) show them making fun of the music video idiom. For the pensive “Dum Dum Girl,” a “first take” goof-off became more familiar (and effective) than the official video. Or was that the plan all along?