Killing Joke @ Whisky A Go Go 1981-08-28

 

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Killing Joke
The Whisky
West Hollywood, CA
August 28, 1981
RG Master via JEMS
New Wave LA Series Vol. 14

Recording equipment: unknown mics and recorder

JEMS 2020 Transfer: RG Master Cassette > Nakamichi RX-505 (azimuth adjustment) > Sound Devices USBPre 2 > Audacity 2.0 capture > iZotope RX6 > iZotope Ozone 6 > CD Wave > ffmpeg > FLAC

01 Wardance
02 Follow the Leaders
03 Unspeakable
04 The Wait
05 The Fall of Because
06 Exit
07 Primitive
08 Requiem
09 Bloodsport
10 Change
11 Pssyche

JEMS is pleased to continue a series of historic recordings made by our longtime friend and diehard music collector RG. He was on the scene in LA as a teenager, began recording shows in 1977 and continued on well into the 2000s. Our series will focus on tapes he made between 1977 and 1987.

What sort of music was he into? Well, one simple way to put it is KROQ music, meaning the bands that LA’s “world famous” new wave radio station was playing were the bands he saw and recorded. First wave if you will, with forays into indie and punk(ish) artists. The early years are dominated by UK artists breaking in the US. Over time his work expands to US bands in the second wave. Some of the artists RG taped include:

Siouxsie & the Banshees (Vol. 4)
Madness (Vol. 8)
The Specials (Vol. 6)
OMD (Vol. 10)
The Damned
The Stranglers (Vol. 1)
Public Image Limited (Vol. 3)
John Cale (Vol. 9)
Magazine
The Buzzcocks (Vol. 7)
Orange Juice (Vol. 13)
U2
Wreckless Eric
The Cramps
Johnny Thunders
Talking Heads
Iggy Pop
XTC (Vol. 2)
The Jam
The Only Ones
The Undertones
Boomtown Rats (Vol. 5)
The Birthday Party
The Penetrators
The Bluebells (Vol. 12)
The Plimsouls (Vol. 11)
Athletico Spizz '80
Killing Joke (Vol. 14)

Later on he caught The Smiths, R.E.M., Hüsker Dü, The Replacements and many more.

RG used good, not Millard-level recording gear, which means his tapes are mostly solid and listenable, with the occasional very good one and also sorta crappy one. What makes his tapes compelling is that RG was recording in a particularly vital window of time. In many instances these were the first or second times these acts played Los Angeles. Some never did proper US tours, only playing select dates in key markets like LA or NYC. Also, for many of these gigs, RG was the only taper. He grabbed a few local radio broadcasts along the way, too. 

Because these shows were almost exclusively at clubs like The Whisky and The Roxy, the sets are generally short, 45 to 60 minutes because that's what you did at The Whisky. On occasion, RG would copy his own masters to save tape and we have done our best to distinguish what’s a true master and what’s a first generation copy. If there’s a doubt, we will note it. Regardless, the series will offer the lowest generation copies available of his recordings, digitized directly for the first time from RG’s tapes which had been stored in boxes for the last 15+ years.

Volume 14 in our series captures Killing Joke at the Whisky on the Sunset Strip. It is another example of RG taping bands on their first US tours, in this case Killing Joke is supporting their second album WHat’s THIS For...! The short set draws from that album and their self-titled debut as well.

There’s an audio recording claiming to be this show on YouTube, but it is a different performance. Perhaps there were two shows that night? The YT recording is also inferior quality including being pitched too fast compared to the new RG transfer. While this was undoubtedly a loud, post-punk show causing some microphone overload, RG’s capture is punchy, relatively clear and makes for pretty good listening. Samples provided.

We’re so grateful to RG for letting JEMS dig into his tape boxes and pull out the assets for this series. He witnessed some amazing LA music history. Tip of the hat as well to cpscps who volunteered to handle post-production on our series which is a huge help to us and makes it possible to get more music in your hands. Stay tuned for more New Wave in LA.

BK for JEMS