The 1980's was, to me, when I came of age and was thrust out into the world... it was also when I joined my first band (called "Oaken Dagger"), went to art/photography school in Fort Lauderdale later in the decade, and subsequently was immersed into the South Florida lifestyle in all of its sun-drenched & misogynistic glory. I wrote a lot of tunes then, used my Nikon camera (at one time I had 2 or 3 of them, and a shitload of lenses & accessories) to create art, make money, get laid... you name it, that was me during the 'Eighties. The one thing about the Eighties I didn't care much about was the music that was popular at the time... well, two things: the music and the fashions (particularly the ridiculous hairstyles of the time). I was no "pretty boy", let's just put it that way. There were a few exceptions, as far as music was concerned. I really liked the post-punk, "industrial" bands of the time, also the "goth-wave" bands. The one band I dug the most during that period was Killing Joke. They still exhibited the style of the time, but in a way that made them unique, and their performance-art & music was quite influential, especially to the "alternative" bands like Nirvana (the "Eighties" / "Come As You Are" controversy notwithstanding), Primus, Nine Inch Nails, The Ministry and many others that followed in the 1990's. Killing Joke, as a band, is still together to this day & touring, led by the founding core-lineup of Jaz Coleman (vocalist/keyboardist) and Geordie Walker (guitar). The band, founded in 1976, has had several lineup-changes (particularly in the rhythm-section) but their "classic" early-mid '80s lineup of Jaz, Geordie, Paul Raven (bass) and Paul Ferguson (drums) produced their early-80's hits "Eighties", "Love Like Blood", "Kings And Queens", "Adorations"... what a sound! Jaz would sometimes paint his face and rant onstage like a madman, Geordie had the baddest axe around (a gold-top '52 Gibson ES-295 hollow-body guitar) that he cranked up to maximum volume and created a sound that I dug so much, mainly because it was so unlike the synth-crap prevalent during that period. Killing Joke was the shit! And I say that in a good way... R.I.P. Paul Raven (who sadly passed away in 2007 due to sudden cardiac-arrest while recording with another outfit he was in, at age 46). Video time... two kick-ass live-performances, of "Eighties" and "Love Like Blood".
Haruko Haruhara
5/3/2014 06:47:50 pm
Hai, Bass, can I comment here? Comments are closed.
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