Josef K were a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial. Although they released just one album while together and achieved only moderate success, they have since proved influential on many bands that followed.
History
The band was formed in 1979 originally as TV Art by Paul Haig (vocals, guitar) and his childhood friend Ronnie Torrance (drums), later joined by Malcolm Ross (guitar, keyboards), with Gary McCormack added on bass guitar, who soon left (later joining The Exploited) with David Weddell replacing him. They disliked the name and were inspired to change it when they were asked at the last minute to open for Adam and the Ants at Clouds Ballroom on 20 July 1979 after the original opener dropped out.
After recording a ten-track demo, their first release was the "Romance"/"Chance Meeting" single on Orange Juice drummer Steven Daly's Absolute label in December that year. They returned to the studio in Belgium to record The Only Fun in Town, opting for a more 'live' sound and recording the whole album in two days, Haig later expressing a measure of regret that "we decided to make an almost unlistenable record with the vocals mixed down really low".
The band played their last show on 23 August 1981 and split immediately after, Their last release was the 1982 single, "The Farewell Single", through Les Disques du Crépuscule, which included the Peel session track, "The Missionary".
The band adopted what was described as an "anti-rock stance", most members eschewing drink and (most) drugs, and the band never doing encores, engaging in stage banter, or signing autographs, all of which Ross considered "patronizing". The Futureheads, and The Rapture, and they were described in 2006 as "one of the most influential bands in Britain".
"Sorry for Laughing" was covered by German synth pop group Propaganda on their 1985 album A Secret Wish (and the remix album Wishful Thinking), and again in 2004 by French New Wave/bossa nova band Nouvelle Vague.
In an interview with Nardwuar the Human Serviette, British musician King Krule stated that Josef K created, "intelligent music and it's coming from a pure place, I think. Any music like, which is real, should get a listen to."
Several notable labels have reissued Josef K albums and compilations, including Creation, Domino and LTM Recordings. In 2014 Les Disques du Crépuscule issued remastered vinyl and CD editions of The Only Fun in Town. The history of Josef K is covered in 2015 documentary film Big Gold Dream, with Malcolm Ross featuring prominently as an interviewee.
Band members
- Paul Haig – guitar, vocals, songwriting
- Malcolm Ross – guitar, violin
- David Weddell – bass
- Ronnie Torrance – drums
Original founding members included Neil Shah-Shah (guitar) and Matthew Cocks (bass).
All of their songs were written by either Paul Haig or Paul Haig/Malcolm Ross.
Discography
Studio albums
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!width="30"|
!width="30"|Year
! style="width:175px;"|Title
!width="70"|<small>UK Indie Chart Position</small>
|-
|December
|1979
|"Chance Meeting / Romance"
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|August
|1980
|"Radio Drill Time / Crazy To Exist (Live)"
| style="text-align:center;"|No. 27
|-
|December
|1980
|"It's Kinda Funny / Final Request"
| style="text-align:center;"|No. 12
|-
|February
|1981
|"Sorry For Laughing / Revelation"
| style="text-align:center;"|
|-
|May
|1981
|"Chance Meeting / Pictures (of Cindy)"
| style="text-align:center;"|No. 12
|-
|February
|1982
|"The Missionary / One Angle / Second Angle" ¹
| style="text-align:center;"|No. 5
|-
|Mar
|1987
|"Heaven Sent" ¹
| style="text-align:center;"|No. 12
|}
¹ post split
References
External links
- Josef-K.org – official site
- Josef K biography at Crepuscule
- Rhythm of Life Paul Haig's record label