The Folk Devils

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The Folk Devils were an early 1980s post-punk ensemble born of the Notting Hill, West London music scene.

Founding member Ian Lowery had initially been signed to Killing Joke's Malicious Damage label as leader of the group Ski Patrol. Politics and the general tensions that seemed endemic to the Killing Joke scene led Ian to leave Ski Patrol and recruit long time friend of Jaz Coleman - Alan Cole on drums, Kris Jozajtis on guitar (now Dr Kris Jozajtis at Stirling University) and Mark Whiteley, from Wales, on bass to form another, more satisfying but no less intense project - The Folk Devils.

The sound was a bastardised blend of punk, blues, and amphetamine fuelled angst with the music often walking a fine line between a patchwork of brilliant musicianship and violence. The political and ideological canvass for the Folk Devils was the miners strike, Thatcher's Britain, mass unemployment and the flooding of Britains street with heroin and despair.

Initially managed by Ray Gange, star of the Clash's film Rude Boy, the Folk Devils first single "Hank Turns Blue" recorded for £180 (the bands combined dole money) and released by the label Rough Trade resided at number three in the indie charts for six weeks being kept off the top spot only by New Order and Depeche Mode.

Three Peel sessions followed in quick succession. Subsequent recordings were critically acclaimed and musical luminaries such as Jason Pierce of Spiritualized still regard the Folk Devils as a highly influential musical force. Having recorded the Beautiful Monster E.P. in 1985 with 'punk' producer and IRS stalwart Richard Mazda which charted nationally at 47 and the 1986 Fire and Chrome EP which was well received throughout Europe drug and alcohol use finally caused the band to disintigrate as their first and only album Goodnight Irony was finally released by Situation Two. The Folk Devils, as Brian Taylor of Killing Joke's management said at the time, "were a force of nature live and were never quite able to capture that ferocity on record". Ian Lowery died in 2001 having continued to work throughout the late 80s and early 90s the with Nigel Pulsford of Bush on the King Blank project and the Ian Lowery Band.