WHILE Killing Joke’s “Wardance” – an ominous groove warning of nuclear destruction – makes its point in a couple of unforgettable minutes, a conversation with singer Jaz Coleman takes many twists. Coleman, who is calling from Prague where he’s writing a symphony, peers intensely at the screen while delivering an erudite monologue that takes in topics as diverse as archaeologist Sir Mortimer Wheeler’s excavation of Mohenjo Daro, the World Economic Forum, Roger Waters, Indian epic Mahabharata, digital enslavement, the Taurid meteor system, Plato, Mussolini and nuclear annihilation. “And that brings us to the significance of ‘Wardance’,” he concludes with a demonic grin.
Coleman formed Killing Joke with guitarist Kevin “Geordie” Walker, bassist Martin “Youth” Glover and drummer Big Paul Ferguson in the squats of West London at the end of the 1970s. “Wardance” emerged early on as an example of the band’s ability to match propulsive energy, heavy vibes and a fierce groove with a singalong chorus. Selected as a single and recorded at Gooseberry Studios with Mark Lusardi, it was released in February 1980, but the band weren’t entirely satisfied so had another go when they recorded their debut album at the Marquee Studio with engineer Phil Harding, who later worked with Stock, Aitken & Waterman. This time Jaz Coleman’s vocals were heavily distorted, and the song was given a more portentous tone in keeping with the album’s mood and back to back at the Royal Albert Hall.
