Killing Joke
| Killing Joke | |
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Killing Joke performing at the 2009 Ilosaarirock Festival. From left to right: Ferguson (background), Walker, Coleman, Glover
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Notting Hill, London, England |
| Genres | |
| Years active |
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| Labels |
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| Website | www |
| Members |
Jaz Coleman Geordie Walker Martin "Youth" Glover Paul Ferguson Reza Udhin |
| Past members |
Paul Raven Martin Atkins Dave 'Taif' Ball Ben Calvert |
Killing Joke are an English rock band formed in October 1978 in Notting Hill, London, England. The original line-up included Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitars) and Youth (bass).
Their first album, Killing Joke, was released in 1980. After the release of Revelations in 1982, bassist Youth was replaced by Paul Raven. The band achieved mainstream success in 1985 with both the album Night Time and the single "Love Like Blood".
A key influence on industrial rock, their early music was described by critics Stephen Thomas Erlewine and John Dougan as "quasi-metal [...] dancing to a tune of doom and gloom", which gradually evolved over the years, incorporating elements of electronic music, synthpop and gothic rock, though always emphasising Coleman's "savagely strident vocals". Killing Joke have influenced many later bands and artists, such as Metallica, Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden. Coleman and Geordie have been the only constant members of the band.
Paul Ferguson was the drummer in the band of Mataya Clifford (a.k.a. Mat Stagger) when he met Jaz Coleman (from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire) in Notting Hill, London. In October 1978, after Coleman was briefly the keyboard player in that band, he and Ferguson left to form Killing Joke. They placed an advertisement in Melody Maker which attracted guitarist Geordie Walker and bassist Martin "Youth" Glover. Coleman said their manifesto at the time was to "define the exquisite beauty of the atomic age in terms of style, sound and form". Coleman gave an explanation concerning their name: "The killing joke is like when people watch something like Monty Python on the television and laugh, when really they're laughing at themselves. It's like a soldier in the first world war. He's in the trench, he knows his life is gone and that within the next ten minutes he's gonna be dead ... and then suddenly he realises that some cunt back in Westminster's got him sussed - 'What am I doing this for? I don't want to kill anyone, I'm just being controlled'." The band played a debut gig on 4 August 1979 at Cheltenham Witcombe Lodge supporting The Ruts and The Selecter.
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