It’s not normal for me to phone it in but these aren’t normal times. Yours truly, in case anyone’s wondering, has been under Corona virus quarantine for the past week. In between taking naps, experiencing brain fog, and (in this case) sharing TMI, I’ve taken to going back and listening to my musical “comfort food” just to pump myself up. So, rather than spread the virus, I’ll spend a brief amount of time spreading Konk’s Jams, one of those albums that might just put that same spring in your step.
Slightly dated yet surprisingly still au courant, Jams was the swan song to a shockingly brief but unsurprisingly influential career of Konk. Konk was born in early ‘80s New York City out of ideas by sometime Lounge Lizard, Dana Vicek, bent on creating a multicultural group that could take the critical ideas of the burgeoning punk/New Wave scene and weld them with the underground dance culture of their hometown. Rather than lean towards Coleman, the ideas of Don Cherry, John Zorn, and others, fomented an idea they’d run with.
As written about recently, their spanning, early, visionary music mixed jazz, afrobeat, hip-hop, and latin music into a decidedly leftfield curve. Performing to a decidedly more urban demo it was their club hits like “Konk Party” and “Soka-Loka-Moki” that found them playing the same scene that you’d find groups like Liquid Liquid, ESG, and Kid Creole.
While this sometime 7- or 9- piece group played its heart out around town, and won the love of notable fans like David Byrne and Andy Warhol, it was Belgian label Les Disques Crepuscule that would present them with the opportunity to release their debut. Although Konk’s Yo! became an import only album it also became a quick hit among noted DJs like David Mancuso, Larry Levan, and Walter Gibbons, allowing them to exit out of their prior rock club digs and enter the world of dance clubs, performing in places like the Paradise Garage.
Unfortunately for Konk their rise came exactly as the rise of MTV and commercial radio started to segregate musical scenes. Somewhere, Konk’s hybrid sound had no place to go. Yet, Konk persisted and they retooled to set up their own label, Dog Brothers Records, in spite of Dana and others parting ways.
Founding Konk members Geordie Gillespie and Shannon Dawson carried the flag forward and in 1986 released single “Love Attack”. Exploiting the burgeoning sonics of samplers, drum machines, and synths, this single became a hit in the clubs and caught the ear of Donald Fagen who’d include it in his soundtrack to Michael J. Fox’s Bright Lights, Big City. On the strength of that single they’d go into the studio to create Jams.
Jams, you could say, was their attempt to think like a DJ and create music for that environment. Drawing from NYC’s burgeoning house scene, they’d get the input of producers like Freddy Bastone to create longform dance tracks like “Acid Jam”, “4th Edition” and a reimagined “Konk Party”, remixing their influential sound for the next generation. Then, from the DJ booth, they’d reintroduce listeners to streamlined versions of club burners like “Your Life” and “Love Attack”. Suffice it to say, as much this should have fired up new audiences, Konk conked out.
As for me, I can’t help but think just how much a band like this failed only because the party they were playing for came far later. So, at least for today (I hope) one can get a taste of that inner mountain flame that’s still slowly burning.