[kj] Re Future of Killing Joke

Wed Nov 29 13:35:16 EST 2023

Alex said it best.

I recall a moment in -- I think it was the Killing Joke XXV Gathering Live
at Shepherd's Bush DVD -- where Geordie begins to play a few notes, and Jaz
looks at the audience, gestures over to Geordie, or his guitar, or the
invisible notes Geordie had just started to wring from the beautiful gold
hollow-body ES-295 of his, and Jaz asked, "Where would be without that?"

Nobody needed to answer. It was a rhetorical question, anyway. But
supposing it wasn't, the answer is of course, "Nowhere."

Re-listening to the Geordie 2009 demos today and yesterday. I have a few
photos I took with Geordie in Dallas. His guitar playing made me reassess
how I viewed the role of guitarists in bands, and over time I came to see
him as probably the most awesome guitarist working within the genres of
postpunk, goth, metal, punk, industrial -- you name it, probably because he
could so deftly veer across, blend, combine, or switch between those genres
at will. And the flourishes he'd do with, say, adding in Mid-Eastern
elements to the guitar playing, like on "Tabazan," that's some of my
favorite stuff. What a phenomenal talent. No words to express how sad his
loss has affected me, and I can't imagine how badly Jaz and Big Paul and
Diamond Dave are getting along, now.

Absent friends shall live by love,

Oliver

On Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 8:28 AM gingoblin--- via Gathering <
gathering at misera.net> wrote:

> Well put Alex.
> As much as I hate to say it, Killing Joke have to be over. I've seen my
> other favourite bands (The Damned and Hawkwind) change key members and do
> some fantastic stuff, but Killing Joke without Geordie is just impossible
> to me.
> It's fucking grim thinking I will never witness the power of Killing Joke
> live again, but am grateful I did have all those opportunities over the
> years, right up to the Albert Hall in March.
>
> Dave in Edinburgh
>
>
> Sent from Proton Mail mobile
>
>
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> On 29 Nov 2023, 13:57, Alex Smith < vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:
>
>
> There are bands that can solider forward ... I am reminded of AC/DC, who
> drafted Brian Johnson to assume the microphone not long after Bon Scott
> passed. More recently, I remember -- when Brian Johnson had to bow out to
> protect his hearing, for a while -- they drafted Axl Rose to take his
> place. It seemed heartless and mercenary, at the time, but AC/DC had tour
> dates to fulfill, and they weren't going to let their audience down.
>
>
>
> Killing Joke, meanwhile, is.... was (I hate typing that) a very different
> beast, indeed. Yes, members have come, gone, returned and left again, but
> it's always been a band about a very specific chemistry (beyond the fact,
> of course, that Geordie was in every iteration along the way). I remember
> assuming the end when Big Paul left, but what an inspired replacement
> Martin Atkins was. Ted Parsons was also a great fit (although I believe
> there was a bit of fallout over a missed flight). Young Ben Calvert was a
> nice, energetic addition for a while, but never really seemed like a proper
> member of the band. I saw bassist Taif play with them in 1989, and he
> didn't seem like quite the right guy for the job (and let's not even
> discuss the late Andy Rourke). RAVEN was assuredly not the same type of
> player as Youth, but HOLY SHIT was he ever a good fit, adding a new degree
> of menace and whallop to the proceedings. I remember being incredulous
> and devastated upon learning of his death, as well.
>
>
>
> But while Jaz, Big Paul and Youth are all consummately Killing Joke to the
> very bone, without Geordie, it can never be the same. I mean, I can't
> really imagine Killing Joke without Jaz, for example, but the thing that
> really DEFINES Killing Joke -- the essence that sets them well apart from
> all others -- in the singularly UNIQUE sound of Geordie's guitar. Full
> stop. That's it. Without Geordie -- despite the best of intentions -- it
> can never be Killing Joke.
>
>
>
> I also have a hard time wrapping my head around the notion of them pulling
> a Beatles-y "Free as a Bird" stunt, trying to build songs around remaining
> Geordie riffs. It strikes me that Geordie was a very driving component of
> the musical directions they made, and without his input and weigh-in, it
> wouldn't *really* be the same.
>
>
>
> This all said, I fully expect Jaz, Youth and Big Paul to stay active. I
> can see them working together, but I don't see them calling it Killing Joke.
>
>
>
> ..but, y'know, I've been wrong before.
>
>
>
> It sounds somewhat ridiculous to suggest this, but I've truly be
> crestfallen all week. I mean, I was 17 years old when I first heard Killing
> Joke, and as I'm sure it was with many of you, that first taste of their
> music INSTANTLY made them my favorite band, and I mean that very literally.
> Like, not just my favorite punk band, or my favorite band of the moment or
> whatever -- my first hearing of "Eighties" in my friend Spike's Dad's
> living room in the Spring of 1984, INSTANTLY marked me as a Killing Joke
> acolyte for life. I literally ran out the door and across the street to a
> tiny shop on Cornelia Street in Greenwich Village called Subterranean
> Records and bought the 12" on the spot, and then feverishly combed NYC's
> then-thriving network of indie record shops, snapping up every bit of their
> music that I could put my hand to. I have loads of "favorite" bands ---
> bands I'm slavishly devoted to, but none of them --- N O N E. OF THEM --
> ever came close to Killing Joke.  Their music speaks to me like no other's,
> and I have been as slavishly sworn to them for 39 years. It sounds
> presumptuous to say, but they have become part of my very identity. So, to
> lose such an integral component of that life-affirming element that has
> enriched my 56 years like nothing else is a genuine, palpable pain. I
> cannot say that I truly knew Geordie (I met him -- and interviewed him,
> disastrously -- a few times), but I never got to know him as I got to know
> Big Paul and Raven (I've similarly met Jaz several times, but I doubt he
> has the foggiest clue who I am). Youth I've spoken with a few times and he
> is an incredibly nice, welcoming gent. But the sound, vision, mythos, lore,
> essence and force that is Killing Joke has informed, enlivened and
> empowered me for literally every day since that Spring day in 1984. To
> think that that's all over is almost too much for me to take.
>
>
>
> Sorry, soppy rant over.
>
>
>
> -Alex in NYC
>
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> -----Original Message-----
> From: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!) <
> gathering at misera.net>
> Sent: Nov 29, 2023 1:30 AM
> To: A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!) <gathering at misera.net
> >
> Cc: adrianwason <adrianwason at btinternet.com>
> Subject: Re: [kj] Re Future of Killing Joke
>
>
> 100% agreement Mike...
>
> Maybe re-work some of his demos into KJ tracks... I was suprised they did
> Big Buzz as there are some totally outstanding tracks there...
>
> Every band is different but Rush stopped after Neil Peart died...
>
>
>
> ------ Original Message ------
> From: "Mike Logvinoff" <mlogvinoff77 at live.ca>
> To: "gathering at misera.net" <gathering at misera.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, 29 Nov, 2023 At 04:10
> Subject: [kj] Re Future of Killing Joke
>
> Without Geordie there is no Killing Joke.
>
> It has always at least been Jaz & Geordie.
>
> Best that can be hoped for in the future would be unreleased material from
> the band and re-issued material.
>
> Such a loss.
>
>
>
> Get Outlook for Android <https://aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
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