[kj] sorta-ot: Killing Joke book idea?. . .
sade1
gathering@misera.net
Sat, 24 May 2003 15:41:12 -0700 (PDT)
re: The 'Book'
I was thinking..
coming from an angle that masses of peeps will
recognize and relate to, like, opening with band
acknowledgements from as many as possible(there's
plenty) and HOW they were infuenced (interviews or
clips of, how/when they first heard kj); litely
touching on the present-day works of each KJ band
member(say, from '96 on), and then going back and
telling the story from the beginning and finishing
with the latest cd.
Have you read "Ladies and Gentlemen...Lenny Bruce!"?
Man, from the first page it took me like a coastal
undertow with its style. I'm no literary critic, but
it was very very entertaining and informative and
solid on the facts. I've read it's considered the
most thorough biography of Lenny Bruce.
Pictures, lot of pictures, and maybe timelines,
"family trees" (a la Fleetwood Mac's)of members and
what bands they've played with orproduced; interviews
with Dave grohl, Al'Qaeda' Jurgensen, members and
manager of Nirvana, Bjork, Metallica, Trent, Dave V.,
Dido, Ann Dudley, yada-ya...and a Cd-rom with links to
covers of KJ songs....and a parade after that.
Saul
..............................................
--- Alexander Smith <vassifer@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> "keep me posted how it goes..."
>
>
>
> Well, let's not all get our hopes up too soon. I
> have a few friends who've
> been trying to brow-beat me into doing a book for
> some time (not necessarily
> about Killing Joke, though that always seems like
> the first idea), but my
> problem is not really understanding how to go about
> it. My friend Sean is
> writing a memoir about his life in and out of reform
> schools (a troubled
> youth, our Sean was) and has a publishing deal and
> an agent and all that,
> and he is most insistant at my undertaking a
> simillar project. He and I were
> kicking ideas around, and I blithely mentioned that
> no one -- to my then
> knowledge -- had ever written an authoritative book
> about Jonathan Richman
> and the Modern Lovers (a band as seminal to the
> constructs of proto-Punk
> Rock as the Stooges and the Velvet Underground, yet
> much less heralded). I'd
> postulated that since Richman himself is such an
> eccentric, quasi-reclusive
> character, a book on him could be interesting to
> even the passive layperson.
> Sean jumped out of his chair with excitement and
> said he'd talk to his agent
> about it. A day later, he called me back saying his
> agent loved the idea and
> would love to get together and discuss the options.
> Great....wheels set in
> motion.
>
> Over the next couple of days, before meeting with
> this guy, I did a little
> sniffing around. Turns out, as fate would have it,
> someone *HAS* written a
> thorough book on Richman,....and it came out as
> recently as 2000 (on a tiny
> British publishing house called Peter Owen Press,
> but not so tiny that I
> couldn't find the book on the shelves of my local
> bookstore). The lynchpin,
> however, is that the writer (a British dude named
> Tim Mitchell) didn't get
> any cooperation from Jonathan Richman. Jonathan
> wished him well, but refused
> to be interviewed (apparently, Richman isn't in the
> business to be lionized
> in this manner). Regardless, the book is admirably
> pretty exhaustive
> otherwise,....rendering the concept of *ANOTHER*
> book on the man rather moot
> (even if we managed to somehow convince Richman to
> cooperate). So, flush
> that idea.
>
> To be honest, I was quite relieved. While I think
> that the first Modern
> Lovers record (with Jerry Harrison and David
> Robinson, later of the Talking
> Heads and Cars, respectively) which features such
> classics as "Roadrunner,"
> "She Cracked" and "I'm Straight" is a fuckin'
> storming, wall-flattening
> record that sounds as vital today as when it was
> recorded (a jaw-dropping
> 1973), I have precious little time for his later
> work, which can range from
> cutesy precious through insufferably twee. I can't
> imagine devoting the next
> couple of years of my freetime devoted to his music.
> I'd have to open a vein
> at some point and end it all.
>
> So, I talked with the agent before meeting him and
> told him the news. He was
> bummed, but still encouraging -- saying that where
> there's one good idea,
> there are bound to be more. He still wanted to meet
> up. So, this past
> Wednesday, I went to an "idea breakfast" with the
> guy. He turned out to be a
> little more of a slickster than I was
> hoping/expecting, and prone to
> dropping lots of names from the literary
> congniscentti that I'm only
> passively aware of (and if I wasn't married to a
> very literate woman who
> works in publshing, I dare say I would've been
> completely in the dark.) I
> ran a couple of more ideas by him, all of them
> music-related.
> Dissapointinly, this guy wasn't as versed in music
> as I'd have liked, and
> wasn't entirely familiar with some of the concepts I
> was suggesting. I did
> suggest a book exclusively about New York City bands
> from the early 80s
> through today (something between "Please Kill Me"
> and "Our Band Could Be
> your Life," concentrating on bands from the Swans
> and Pussy Galore through
> the new shit like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to bring it
> up to date). He sniffed
> that he wasn't impressed by Azzerad's book (which I
> loved) and that he
> thought: "maybe 5,000 people would want to buy that
> book!" That sounded
> promising to me, but not to him (too small....this
> guy wrangled the deal for
> the recent Neil Young biography, which just came out
> in paperback). He then
> suggested -- rather incongruously -- that I write a
> book about REM's MURMER
> album and how significant it was, seemingly
> obvlivious to the fact that
> there are already waaaaaayyyy too many books about
> REM out at the moment
> (and I neglected to mention that I didn't share his
> enthusiasm for the album
> in question).
>
> To counter that, I suggested an authoritative,
> detail-exhaustive book about
> Killing Joke. While he recognized their name, I
> think he was only familiar
> with maybe the "Love Like Blood" single. I went in
> for the kill,
> highlighting Jaz's storied career as a musician
> coupled with his notoriously
> colorful antics as a man driven by all stripes of
> strikingly diverse
> philosophies. Call me biased, but I think a book on
> Jaz Coleman's life alone
> would make for interesting reading. I mean, he's the
> perfect amalgam of
> brilliance, madness, will and vision. He belongs
> right up there with Klaus
> Kinski, Werner Herzog, Jackson Pollack, etc. etc.
> etc. I then layed my case
> for the broad-sweeping but as-yet under-recognized
> influence of Killing
> Joke's music on genres ranging from Punk to Metal to
> Dub to Industrial to
> Pop to Goth to Trance and beyond. Top that off with
> anecdotes about manic,
> sudden flights to Iceland, cows hearts on
> journalists desks, death threats,
> the occult, recording sessions in the great pyramids
> and more intra-band
> plot-line dramas that any soap opera would kill for
> and
> *****BANG******....you got yourself a page-turner!
> Julian Cope be damned,
> this would be the real deal!
>
> The agent wasn't that enthused, citing the "select
> audience" angle. He's got
> a point, but I'm thinking it isnt' my idea that's
> wrong, but rather my
> choice of representation. I should start smaller
> (this guy was looking for
> the next Jonathan Franzen....which he ain't going to
> find in me). At the
> very least, he was very accomodating and offered to
> act as a sounding board
> for future concepts. So, we'll see.
>
> Am I wrong in thinking there is someone else on the
> list who has been
> kicking a book idea around as well? Please speak up
> if so.
>
> Alex in NYC
>
>
>
>
>
> ----------
> >From: "Jester" <webmaster@killing-joke.com>
> >To: <gathering@misera.net>
> >Subject: RE: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >Date: Sat, May 24, 2003, 4:20 PM
> >
>
> >finally....
> >
> >keep me posted how it goes...I will post things on
> the site if you get a
> >deal, and you know this maaaaan!
> >
> >
> >Cheers
> >Joe
> >
> >Ne Plus Ultra,
> >Occisio Locatio
> >
> >The Web Master,
> >Jester
> >www.killing-joke.com
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: gathering-admin@misera.net
> [mailto:gathering-admin@misera.net]On
> >Behalf Of Alexander Smith
> >Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 3:01 PM
> >To: gathering@misera.net; gathering@misera.net
> >Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >
> >
> >
> >"some day, some one needs to sit down and make a
> book out of allthis. What a
> >band, what a history. It's bloody criminal that
> nobody has undertaken such a
> >project but then again, I'm probably as guilty as
> anyone in that respect !"
> >
> >
> >I pitched an idea about the Joke to a literary
> agent this very week,
> >actually.
> >
> >
> >Alex in NYC
> >
> >
> >
> >----------
> >>From: "Antoni Adamiak" <antoni@clara.net>
> >>To: <gathering@misera.net>
> >>Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>Date: Sat, May 24, 2003, 10:42 AM
> >>
> >
> >>As from the NME reports, cuttings of which I
> *lent* to Paul R & were up on
> >>The Last Laugh website, after Jaz fled to Iceland,
> only Geordie followed
> >>whilst Big Paul & Youth then formed Brilliant who
> brought out the ironic 7"
> >>single "What Good Friends Are For" - from a
> further NME press cutting (link
> >>below), it appears that Jaz fell out with various
> people (In a Bjork
> >>interview, she was in KUKL and said that many
> people got very upset) and
> >yes
> >>probably this guy was briefly in Killing Joke, but
> at some stage BP
> >rejoined
> >>the fold & that's when long time KJ fanatic Paul
> Raven joined on bass -
> >>hopefully one day the Black Bird can elaborate
> further on the circumstances
> >>of his recruitment but that's about as much as I
> know.
> >>
> >>http://home.clara.net/antoni/icekj.jpg
> >>
> >>Maaaaan, some day, some one needs to sit down and
> make a book out of all
> >>this. What a band, what a history. It's bloody
> criminal that nobody has
> >>undertaken such a project but then again, I'm
> probably as guilty as anyone
> >>in that respect !
> >>
> >>Regards,
> >>
> >>Antoni
> >>
> >>* http://home.clara.net/antoni/ *
> >>
> >>
> >>----- Original Message -----
> >>From: "JOKERS PUB CAFE" <circusbar@uol.com.br>
> >>To: <gathering@misera.net>
> >>Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 4:24 PM
> >>Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>
> >>
> >>Hi all, while I was looking trough the links
> Antoni sent, I find something
> >>interesting::
> >>
> >>does this guy "Birger Mogensen" ever played with
> the joke???
> >>
> >>
> >>KUKL. Icelandic group created in Reykjavik in
> August '83 with Einar Örn
> >>Benediktsson (vo, tp) (earlier in Purrkurr
> Pillnikk); Björk Guðmundsdottir
> >>(vo) (earlier in Tappi Tikarrass); Guðlaugur
> Kristinn Ottarsson (el-g)
> >>(earlier in þeyr); Birger Mogensen (el-b) (earlier
> in Killing Joke) ; Einar
> >>Melax (keyb) (earlier in Van Houtens Koko) and
> Sigtryggur Baldursson (dm)
> >>(earlier in þeyr).
> >>
> >>diaz
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>----- Original Message -----
> >>From: Antoni Adamiak <antoni@clara.net>
> >>To: <gathering@misera.net>
> >>Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 11:52 AM
> >>Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>
> >>
> >>> The name is THEYR but it's a funny "P" (which in
> Icelandic is "th") so
> >>they
> >>> get referred as Peyr.
> >>>
> >>> The 3 tracks with Jaz, from an audio tape
> shipped out of the recording
> >>> studio, ended up in John Peel's postbox so he
> promptly played them each
> >at
> >>> least a couple of times. Good quality MP3
> versions are up on Madani's
> >>> website.
> >>>
> >>> The "As Above" LP does not feature Jaz Coleman.
> The vinyl is pretty rare
> >>but
> >>> you can get a recently compiled & released CD,
> with most of the tracks
> >off
> >>> "As Above" from the Bad Taste website, They plan
> to release a couple more
> >>in
> >>> due course.
> >>>
> >>> A few links for your perusal :
> >>>
> >>>
>
http://larbib.larvik.folkebibl.no/~vidar/musikk/#iceland
> >>>
> >>>
>
http://larbib.larvik.folkebibl.no/~vidar/musikk/theyr.html
> >>>
> >>> http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-10797/kukl/theyr.htm
> >>>
> >>> https://www.smekkleysa.net/ (you can buy the CD
> here)
> >>>
> >>> Regards,
> >>>
> >>> Antoni
> >>>
> >>> * http://home.clara.net/antoni/ *
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "wardance" <wardance@wardance.net>
> >>> To: <gathering@misera.net>
> >>> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 3:18 PM
> >>> Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Indeed yes, as far as I know, THEYR and PEYR
> are just one and same
> >>> icelandic project (It just seems like there were
> two different ways to
> >>write
> >>> the band's name... Quite weird, isn't it ? ;-).
> >>>
> >>> <I've also only heard 3 songs, the ones that's
> on the Joker_place site,
> >>> Guess again, The <Catalyst and Take what's Mine,
> that's the ones you're
> >>> talking about???
> >>>
> >>> Those are the same tracks as the ones I've
> already got.
> >>> They were recorded in Iceland in 1982, and the
> singer was Jaz, that's
> >>all
> >>> I know so far...
> >>>
> >>> Hans Wehrwolf
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: JOKERS PUB CAFE
> >>> To: gathering@misera.net
> >>> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 4:12 PM
> >>> Subject: Re: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Is Theyr the same as Peyr, from the iceland
> Episode.???
> >>>
> >>> I've also only heard 3 songs, the ones that's
> on the Joker_place site,
> >>> Guess again, The Catalyst and Take what's Mine,
> that's the ones you're
> >>> talking about???
> >>>
> >>> does anybody knows more info about these
> songs, whose playing what,
> >>date,
> >>> etc???????????
> >>>
> >>> diaz
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: wardance
> >>> To: The Gathering
> >>> Sent: Saturday, May 24, 2003 10:51 AM
> >>> Subject: [kj] THEYR featuring Jaz Coleman
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Does anyone know if THEYR "As above" LP
> (recorded with Jaz on vocals)
> >>> has ever been re-released on CD ??...
> >>>
> >>> If not, does anyone have it in a good sound
> quality on CD-R ??...
> >>> I only managed to check 3 tracks from THEYR
> so far, but unfortunately
> >>> with an awfuly poor sound quality (maybe demos
> or rehearsal recordings
> >>> ?...).
> >>> That's quite frustrating, 'cos I'm VERY
> interested in this rare
> >>> curiosity !!... ;-)
> >>>
> >>> Hans Wehrwolf
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> Gathering mailing list
> >>> Gathering@misera.net
> >>>
> http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering
> >>
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>Gathering mailing list
> >>Gathering@misera.net
>
>>http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering
> >_______________________________________________
> >Gathering mailing list
> >Gathering@misera.net
> >http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Gathering mailing list
> >Gathering@misera.net
> >http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering
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