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Artist
Josef K
12+ albums
post-punknew waveScottish80sindie
about
Josef K was a Scottish post-punk band, active between 1979 and 1982, who released singles on the Postcard Records label. The band was named after the protagonist of Franz Kafka's novel The Trial. Although they released just one album while together and achieved only moderate success, they have since proved influential on many bands that followed. The band was formed in 1979 originally as TV Art by Paul Haig (vocals, guitar) and his childhood friend Ronnie Torrance[1] (drums), later joined by Malcolm Ross (guitar, keyboards), with Gary McCormack added on bass guitar, who soon left (later joining The Exploited) with David Weddell replacing him. They disliked the name and were inspired to change it when they were asked at the last minute to open for Adam and the Ants at Clouds Ballroom on 20 July 1979[5] after the original opener dropped out.[6] After recording a ten-track demo, their first release was the "Romance"/"Chance Meeting" single on Orange Juice drummer Steven Daly's Absolute label in December that year.[2][3] They were then signed to Postcard Records, the label founded by Daly and Alan Horne, releasing a string of critically acclaimed singles in 1980 and 1981.[2][4] The band recorded their debut album, Sorry for Laughing, in 1981 at Castle Sound Studios in Pencaitland, but it was shelved, with the band unhappy with the clean, polished production, Haig describing it as sounding "flat and disinfected",[7] with only a few copies being released.[2][8] They returned to t
