Next on Life Elsewhere, a special feature on one of the most influential bands to emerge from the late 70’s music scene in London. A band Nirvana and Soundgarden, amongst many others, cite as a major inspiration for their forays into rock ‘n’ roll. Those two Seattle bands, who emerged out of the Seattle’s “Grunge” scene, were regular listeners to Norman B’s early incarnations of Life Elsewhere, where he was the first DJ in America to play the formidable and extraordinary music of…Killing Joke.
In the next edition of Life Elsewhere, we talk with Frank Jenkinson who happened to be living in the same ramshackle house as Killing Joke and their original management team, in the then bedraggled area of Notting Hill Gate, London. “These were early days and I happened to have a camera.” Recounts Jenkinson, “Things were kicking off for the band and I was there at all the early gigs, including the legendary John Peel Radio Show Sessions.” The photos Frank took, graphically document a moment in time, now long gone and shrouded in mystery. His extraordinary photographs lay dormant in a dusty box, under his stairs, until he recently noticed on Facebook, Killing Joke‘s ever-increasing and devoted following. Recently, Jenkinson self-published his unique photo-book, documenting a special period in 1979, and, if the response to this book is encouraging, he plans to publish a much larger volume of his historical pictures.
Frank Jenkinson will join the next edition of Life Elsewhere to talk about his historical photographs, the early days of Killing Joke and what life was like in London, circa 1979. To round out our focus on Killing Joke, we look to the future of music, as envisioned by Martin Youth Glover, with highlights from Norman B’s 2013 in-depth interview with Killing Joke‘s bass player.
The Killing Joke photographs are from the BBC John Peel Sessions, October, 17, 1979, by permission of Frank Jenkinson
Life Elsewhere airs:
Sundays at 12 noon ET at The Source WMNF HD3