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Biography
Refimprove|date=July 2007Infobox musical artist | name = The Mekons| image =| caption = Mekons circa 1994, left to right: Jon Langford, Sarah Corina, Tom Greenhalgh, Sally Timms, Rico Bell| image_size = | background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Leeds , West Yorkshire , England | instrument =| genre = Punk rock Break Post-punk Break Cowpunk Break Alternative rock | occupation =| years_active = 1977 & ndash; present| label = Fast Product Break Virgin Records Break Blast First Break A& M Records Break Quarterstick Records Break Scout Releases | associated_acts = The Three Johns , Waco Brothers , Rolling Stones | website = http://www.mekons.de/mekonhom.htm Club Mekon| current_members = Jon Langford Tom Greenhalgh Sally Timms SarahCorina Steve Goulding Susie Honeyman Rico Bell (aka Eric Bellis ) Lu Edmonds | past_members = Kevin Lycett Dick Taylor Ben Mandelson John Langley Robert Worby | notable_instruments =The Mekons are a United Kingdom|British Rock music|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 : Jon Langford , Kevin Lycett , Mark White, Andy Corrigan and Tom Greenhalgh - the Gang of Four (band)|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 Venus ian featured in the British 1950s-1960s comic Dan Dare (printed in the Eagle (comic)| Eagle ). The band's first single was "Never Been in a Riot", a satire|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 (band)|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 UK miners' strike (1984-1985)|1984 miners' strike ) the Mekons had returned as an active group. The band was now augmented by vocalist Sally Timms , violinist Susie Honeyman, ex- The Damned (band)|Damned member Lu Edmonds , accordionist/vocalist Rico Bell (a.k.a. Eric Bellis ), and former The Rumour drummer Steve Goulding , among others. They began to experiment with musical styles derived from traditional English folk music|folk (tentatively explored on the English Dancing Master Extended play|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 minimalism|minimalist country of HankWilliams . 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! . 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 .
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 , Kevin Coyne , The Sadies , Kat Ex (Katherina Bornefeld) of The Ex (band) .
The band has toured and recorded with a mostly unaltered lineup (Langford, Greenhalgh, Timms, Goulding, Bell, Edmonds, Honeyman, and bassist SarahCorina ) throughout the 1990s and early 21st century, and has a highly devoted following.
In a September 2010 interview, Jon Langford revealed that new Mekons album called Ancient & Modern has been recorded and that the band will tour the United States in 2011. cite web|url= http://blurt-online.com/features/view/709| title=Blurt Interview with Jon Langfordcite web |url= http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2010/09/punk-rock-painter-jon-langford-mekons.html | author=Los Angeles Times | title= A Mekon reflects
In a February 2011 interview, Langford discussed the music documentar y about the band, Revenge of the Mekons, directed by Joe Angio and tentatively scheduled for release in late 2011. cite web|url= http://www.musicfilmweb.com/the-riff-blog/the-ask/jon-langford-what-the-mekons-is/| author=MusicFilmWeb | title=Jon Langford: What The Mekons Is
Discography
Albums
1979 – The Quality of Mercy Is Not Strnen ( Gramophone record|LP )
1980 - The Mekonsaka Devils Rats and Piggies a Special Message from Godzilla (re-released in 1997)
2011 - Ancient and Modern cite web |url= http://pitchfork.com/news/42932-mekons-announce-new-album/ |title=Mekons Announce New Album |publisher= Pitchfork Media |date=June 21, 2011 |accessdate=June 9, 2011
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 - New York (re-released in 1990/2001)
1989 - Original Sin ( Fear & Whiskey with bonus tracks)
1999 - ''Where were you? Hen's Teeth and other lost fragments of unpopular culture Vol. 2
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)
Documentary
2011 (planned) - Revenge of the Mekons directed by Joe Angio
References
Reflist
External links
MySpace-music|mekons
http://www.mekons.de/mekonhom.htm - Official fan-run website with discography
http://www.wacobrothers.com/ - Homepage of the Waco Brothers
http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/ - Bloodshot Records|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& #33; magazine
http://www.archive.org/details/Mekons The Mekons collection on the Internet Archive 's live music archive
DEFAULTSORT:Mekons, The Category:English punk rock groups Category:Music in Leeds Category:Musical groups established in 1977 Category:Cowpunk Category:English alternative rock groups Category:Quarterstick Records artists Category:Live Music Archive artists Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Blast First artists Category:A& M Records artists
