Killing Joke were formed in 1978 when drummer Paul Ferguson met Jaz Coleman when he briefly joined the band that Ferguson played in. They both left Mataya Clifford to form Killing Joke, and placed an ad in Melody Maker which attracted guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Youth. The band played their debut gig on 4 August 1979 at Cheltenham Roadmenders supporting the Ruts and the Selecter. By September of that year they'd started the Malicious Damage record label with graphic artist Mike Coles, as a way to press and sell their music, and with Island Records distributing the records they released their debut single, as the 'Nervous System' 7" and the 'Turn To Red' 10" EP. Their early material fused together elements of punk, funk and dub reggae, and 'Turn to Red' came to the attention of John Peel, who was keen to champion the band's urgent new sound, and gave them extensive airplay. They followed 'Turn To Red' with two more singles in much the same style, if even heavier in parts, and 'Requiem' and 'Wardance' established them as a band with a bright future. Their debut album 'Killing Joke' was released in October 1980 to critical acclaim, and rather than tour the album the band preferred to carry on working in the studio and released 'What's THIS For...!' just eight months later. For this album they hired sound engineer Nick Launay, who had previously recorded with Public Image Ltd, and they toured extensively throughout the UK, with both fans of post-punk and heavy metal taking an interest in songs such as 'Follow the Leaders'. I've always loved the dub reggae sound of that first 10" EP, and in 2014 the band slipped out a dub mix of 'Turn To Red', so I've spliced the two together for a ten-minute workout of my favourite track of theirs. In December 1979 Island re-released 'Turn To Red' as a 12" single with an additional track in 'Almost Red', and so over half of this collection of rare b-sides and Peel session tracks from 1979 to 1981 is actually taken up with just tracks from that first release, but as that is by far my favourite record of the band's career then I'm quite happy with that.
Track listing
01 Turn To Red (And Redder) (exclusive mix of lead track from 'Turn To Red' EP Oct. 1979)02 Nervous System (from the 'Turn To Red' EP Oct. 1979)03 Are You Receiving (from the 'Turn To Red' EP Oct. 1979)04 Almost Red (from the re-issue of 'Turn To Red' Dec. 1979)05 Change (b-side of 'Requiem' 1980)06 Nuclear Boy (John Peel session 1979)07 Malicious Boogie (John Peel session 1979)08 Pssyche (b-side of 'Wardance' 1980)09 Follow The Leaders (original 7" single version 1981)
