The Mekons

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The Mekons
Mekons circa 2015, left to right: Lu Edmonds, Tom Greenhalgh, Steve Goulding, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell (ot pictured: Sarah Corina)
Mekons circa 2015
left to right: Lu Edmonds, Tom Greenhalgh, Steve Goulding, Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Susie Honeyman, Rico Bell
(not pictured: Sarah Corina)
Background information
Origin Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Genres Punk rock
Post-punk
Cowpunk
Alternative rock
Years active 1977 – present
Labels Fast Product
Virgin
Blast First
A&M Records
Quarterstick Records
Scout Releases
Bloodshot Records
Associated acts The Three Johns
The Waco Brothers
Website mekons.de
Members Jon Langford
Tom Greenhalgh
Sally Timms
Sarah Corina
Steve Goulding
Susie Honeyman
Rico Bell (aka Eric Bellis)
Lu Edmonds
J. Mitch Flacko
Past members Ben Mandelson
Dick Taylor
John Langley
Kevin Lycett
Mary Jenner
Robert Worby

The Mekons are a British rock band. Formed in the late 1970s as an art collective, they are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.[1][2] Through the years, the band's musical style has evolved, incorporating aspects of country music, folk music, alternative rock and even occasional experiments with dub.[3] They are known for their raucous live shows.[4] These days, The Mekons are often described as a post-punk, cowpunk and/or alt country band.[5]

History

The band was formed in 1977 by a group of University of Leeds art students: Jon Langford, Kevin Lycett, Mark White, Andy Corrigan and Tom Greenhalgh - the Gang of Four and Delta 5 formed from the same group of students. They took the band's name from the Mekon, an evil, super-intelligent Venusian featured in the British 1950s-1960s comic Dan Dare (printed in the Eagle). The band's first single was "Never Been in a Riot", a satirical take on the Clash's White Riot. For several years the loose-knit band played noisy, bare-bones post-punk, releasing singles on a variety of labels. The Mekons' first album, The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen, was recorded using the Gang of Four's instruments, and due to an error by the Virgin Records art department, featured pictures of the Gang of Four on the back cover. After 1982's The Mekons Story, a compilation of old recordings, the band ceased activity for a while, with Langford forming The Three Johns.

By the mid-1980s (revitalised by the 1984 miners' strike) the Mekons had returned as an active group. The band was now augmented by vocalist Sally Timms, violinist Susie Honeyman, ex-Damned member Lu Edmonds, accordionist/vocalist Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis), and former The Rumour drummer Steve Goulding and Kelvin Weech on lead guitar. They began to experiment with musical styles derived from traditional English folk (tentatively explored on the English Dancing Master EP prior to the hiatus), and American country music. Fear and Whiskey (1985), The Edge of the World (1986) and Honky Tonkin (1987) exemplified the band's new sound, which built on the innovations of Gram Parsons and blended punk ethos and left wing politics with the minimalist country of Hank Williams. Subsequent albums, such as The Mekons Rock'n'Roll, continued to experiment with diverse instrumentation (notably the fiddle and slide guitar).

The Mekons Rock and Roll was the band's first major label release. Issued by A&M Records in 1989, Rock and Roll was not a commercial success, but it was met with critical acclaim.

Just as the Mekons began to grow in critical stature, their relationship with A&M Records became tense, and the Mekons were soon dropped by the label, unable to fulfill their commercial expectations. However, they continued to record at a prolific rate, releasing such notable albums as 1991's The Curse of the Mekons, 2000's Journey to the End of the Night, and 2002's OOOH![6] Natural moved the band to a more folk-flavoured sound. In April 2009 the Mekons returned to the studio to complete a new collection of songs, released in 2011 as Ancient and Modern on Bloodshot Records.[7]

In a September 2010 interview, Jon Langford revealed that new Mekons album called Ancient & Modern was recorded and that the band would tour the United States in 2011.[8][9]

In a February 2011 interview, Langford discussed the music documentary about the band, Revenge of the Mekons, directed by Joe Angio.[10] The film premiered in 2013 at the DOC NYC festival with members of the band in attendance.[11]

The band has toured and recorded with a mostly unaltered lineup (Langford, Greenhalgh, Timms, Goulding, Bell, Edmonds, Honeyman, and bassist Sarah Corina) throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, and has a highly devoted following.[12]

Projects

Jon Langford is a visual artist.[13] Langford has worked as the founder and member of several solo and band projects including the Waco Brothers, a punk-meets-Johnny Cash-like ensemble, and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a project that explores the music of Bob Wills, Johnny Cash and others. Besides his solo albums Langford has released CDs with Richard Buckner, Kevin Coyne, The Sadies, Kat Ex (Katherina Bornefeld) of The Ex (band).

Bloodshot Records is a Chicago, Illinois, record label that has released Mekons solo material by Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Rico Bell and side projects such as the Pine Valley Cosmonauts and the The Waco Brothers.

In 2014, a group of The Mekons dubbed "mini-Mekons" along with Robbie Fulks went on a trip to write and record a record on the island of Jura in Scotland.[14] The record, named Jura, will be released in November 2015 on Black Friday and is made up of original songs written on the trip as well as traditional songs.[15]

Discography

Albums

EPs

  • 1983: The English Dancing Master (CNT Records, Rough Trade Records)
  • 1986: Crime and Punishment (Sin Record Company)
  • 1986: Slightly South of the Border (Sin Record Company)
  • 1987: Hole In The Ground / Sin City / Prince Of Darkness (Sin Record Company, Cooking Vinyl, Twin/Tone Records)
  • 1989: The Dream and Lie of... (Blast First)
  • 1990: F.U.N. '90 (Blast First)
  • 1990: Greetings Eight (Materiali Sonori, Italy)
  • 1992: Wicked Midnite/All I Want (Loud Music)[18]
  • 1993: Millionaire (Quarterstick Records)

Singles

  • 1978: "Never Been In A Riot" b/w "32 Weeks" and "Heart & Soul" − FAST 1 (Fast Product)
  • 1978: "Where Were You?" b/w "I'll Have To Dance Then (On My Own)" − FAST 7 (Fast Product)
  • 1979: "Work All Week" b/w "Unknown Wrecks" − VS300 (Virgin Records)
  • 1980: "Teeth" b/w "Guardian" and "Kill" b/w "Stay Cool" (Virgin Records) -- double 7"
  • 1980: "Snow" b/w "Another One" (Red Rhino Records)
  • 1981: "This Sporting Life" b/w "Frustration" − CNT1 (CNT Records)
  • 1982: "This Sporting Life" b/w "Fight the Cuts" − CNT8 (CNT Records)
  • 1986: "Hello Cruel World" b/w "Alone & Forsaken" − Sin004 (Sin Record Company)
  • 1988: "Ghosts of American Astronauts" (Sin Record Company, Cooking Vinyl, Twin/Tone Records)
  • 1990: "Claw" b/w "Crap Rap" with The Ex (Clawfist)
  • 1990: "Sheffield Park" b/w "Having a Party" Blast First)
  • 1990: "Makes No Difference" b/w "Having A Party" Blast First)
  • 1995: "Untitled 1" b/w "Untitled 2" − QS31 (Quarterstick Records)

Compilations

  • 1980: Mutant Pop (PVC/Jem), a US reissue of various early Fast Product singles, including the Mekons first 7", Never Been in a Riot b/w 32 Weeks, as well as Where Were You?, both first released in 1978.
  • 1985: "They Shall Not Pass" CNT Miner's Strike compilation includes "Fight The Cuts" and "This Sporting Life"
  • 1986: The Mekons Story -- re-released in 1993/2008
  • 1987: Mekons New York (ROIR) -- re-released in 1990/2001 as New York: On the Road 86–87
  • 1989: Original Sin (Rough Trade Records) -- Collects together Fear and Whiskey, parts of The English Dancing Master, Crime and Punishment EP, and Slightly South of the Border EPs
  • 1999: I Have Been to Heaven and Back: Hen's Teeth and other lost fragments of unpopular culture, Vol. 1 (Quarterstick Records)
  • 1999: Where Were You? Hen's Teeth and other lost fragments of unpopular culture, Vol. 2 (Quarterstick Records)
  • 2001: The Curse of the Mekons/Fun '90 -- combined reissue
  • 2004: Heaven & Hell: The Very Best of the Mekons (Cooking Vinyl)

Miscellaneous

Documentary

  • 2013: Revenge of the Mekons directed by Joe Angio

See also

References

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External links

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