The Mekons

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Mekons


Img_capt = Mekons circa 1994, left to right: Jon Langford, Sarah Corina, Tom Greenhalgh, Sally Timms, Rico Bell
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Origin = Leeds, West Yorkshire, England
Instrument =
Genre = Punk rock, Post-punk, Alternative rock
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Years_active = 1977 – present
Label = Fast Product
Virgin Records
A&M Records
Quarterstick Records
Associated_acts = The Three Johns, Waco Brothers
URL = [http://www.myspace.com/mekons myspace.com]
Current_members = Jon Langford
Tom Greenhalgh
Sally Timms
Sarah Corina
Steve Goulding
Susie Honeyman
Rico Bell
Lu Edmonds
Jessica Billey
Past_members = Kevin Lycett
Dick Taylor
Notable_instruments =

The Mekons are a British rock band. Formed in the late 1970s, they are one of the longest-running and most prolific of the first-wave British punk rock bands.

History

The band was formed in 1977 by a group of University of Leeds art students that included Jon Langford, Kevin Lycett 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 Graham Parker and the Rumour drummer Steve Goulding, among others. 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!"

Jon Langford has been busy as an artist and as founder of several solo and band projects, including the Waco Brothers (a punk-meets-Johnny Cash-like ensemble) and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts (exploring the music of Bob Wills, Johnny Cash and others). Besides his solo albums he has released CDs with Richard Buckner and Kevin Coyne.

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

Discography

Albums

* 1979 – "The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen" (LP)
* 1980 - "The Mekons" [aka Devils Rats and Piggies a Special Message from Godzilla] (re-released in 1997)
* 1985 - "Fear and Whiskey" (re-released in 2002)
* 1986 - "Edge of the World" (re-released in 1996)
* 1987 - "The Mekons Honky Tonkin"'
* 1988 - "So Good It Hurts"
* 1989 - "The Mekons Rock'n'Roll" (re-released in 2000)
* 1991 - "The Curse of the Mekons"
* 1993 - "I ♥ Mekons"
* 1994 - "Retreat from Memphis"
* 1996 - "Pussy, King of the Pirates" (with Kathy Acker)
* 1998 - "Me"
* 2000 - "Journey to the End of Night"
* 2002 - "Oooh! (Out of Our Heads)"
* 2004 - "Punk Rock"
* 2007 - "Natural"

EPs

* 1986 - "Slightly South of the Border"
* 1990 - "Fun '90"
* 1992 - "Wicked Midnite"

Singles

* "Never Been In A Riot" b/w "32 Weeks" and "Heart & Soul" (FAST 1 Jan. 1978)
* "Where Were You?" b/w "I'll Have To Dance Then (On My Own)" (FAST 7 1978)
* "Teeth" b/w "Guardian" and "Kill" b/w "Stay Cool" (Virgin double 7" - 1980)

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.
* 1986 - "The Mekons Story" (re-released in 1993/2008)
* 1987 - "New York" (re-released in 1990/2001)
* 1989 - "Original Sin"
* 1999 - "I Have Been to Heaven and Back"
* 1999 - "Where were you? (Magnetic Curses- A Chicago Punk Rock Compilation)"
* 2001 - "The Curse of the Mekons/Fun '90" (combined reissue)
* 2004 - "Heaven & Hell (The Very Best of the Mekons)"

Miscellaneous

* 1996 - "Mekons United" (book with CD)

External links

* http://www.mekons.de/ - extensive Fan-Site
* http://www.wacobrothers.com/ - Homepage of the Waco Brothers
* http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/ - Bloodshot-site, a record label where many members of the Mekons release their material (Sally Timms, Jon Langford, Rico Bell) / side projects (Pine Valley Cosmonauts, Waco Brothers)
* [http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/electronic-publications/stay-free/5/mekons.htm An interview with the Mekons] - Stay Free! magazine
* [http://www.archive.org/details/Mekons The Mekons collection] on the Internet Archive's live music archive