Talk is the debut album by Australian rock group Paul Kelly and the Dots and was originally released on 30 March 1981 by Mushroom Records and re-released in 1990.Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons leader Joe Camilleri produced seven of the eleven tracks with three tracks produced by Martin Armiger (The Sports) and one by Trevor Lucas (ex-Fairport Convention, Fotheringay). The album spawned the singles, "Recognition", "Billy Baxter" and "Lowdown". Only "Billy Baxter" appeared on the Kent Music Report Singles Chart it peaked at No. 38. The album peaked at No. 44 on the related Albums Chart. All tracks were written by Kelly, including two co-written with guitarist Chris Langman.

Paul Kelly and the Dots had formed in August 1978 in Melbourne from the remains of High Rise Bombers, which included Martin Armiger. Their debut single "Recognition" was issued in 1979, under the name The Dots, on an independent label, but had no chart success. "Recognition" line-up were Kelly (vocals), Chris Langman (guitars), Chris Worrall (guitars), Paul Gadsby (bass guitar) and John Lloyd (drums). The version of "Recognition" included on Talk is not the single version, but a re-recording.

The Dots were signed to Mushroom Records, and underwent further line-up changes prior to the album's release. The band name was changed to "Paul Kelly and the Dots" at the record company's insistence.

Armiger produced part of the album, while Joe Camilleri produced the majority of the LP. The group released "Billy Baxter" in 1980, which peaked at No. 38 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart. The song's subject, Billy Baxter, is an Australian musician and comedian. "Hard Knocks", the sole track produced by Trevor Lucas, is the title track of the feature film, Hard Knocks (June 1980), for which Lucas paid post-production costs. It appeared on the film soundtrack by various artists in September 1980. Due to a back injury, Kelly had recorded his vocal track for that song while laying on the studio floor.

...
Wikipedia