Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd (PiL) is a band formed in 1978 by John Lydon, formerly and later Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols. PiL is often cited as one of the most challenging and innovative bands of the post punk period.

Flowers of Romance

Martin Atkins, who had initially joined at the tail end of the Metal Box sessions (most tracks on that album were played by Richard Dudanski), was re-recruited to drum on Flowers of Romance, an album considered much stranger and more difficult than the already strange Metal Box. Levene had by then largely abandoned guitar in favor of synthesizer, picking up a technique that was nearly unique, although perhaps owing a debt to Allen Ravenstine of Pere Ubu. Atkins' propulsive marching band-style drumming and Lydon's increasing lyrical abstraction made this LP a difficult listen for rock fans: contemporary reviews expressed great confusion. The record consists mostly of drums, vocals, musique concrète, and tape loops, with only gestures toward bass (played by Levene) and keyboards. Julian Cope, however, expresses the current majority view, saying that Flowers was "the last great PIL album." http://www.juliancope.com/unsung/reviews/index.php?review_id=984 Its drum sound was widely copied, notably by Phil Collins and Kate Bush. (Collins admits the deed; Bush went an extra step in buying some of Wobble's 'impossibly deep' Metal Box-era bass equipment ).

Related Topics:
Martin Atkins - Richard Dudanski - Flowers of Romance - Synthesizer - Allen Ravenstine - Pere Ubu - Marching band - Musique concrète - Tape loops - Julian Cope - Phil Collins - Kate Bush

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Atkins was, like Levene and Lydon, a control freak in ways, but Levene had the disadvantage of having repeatedly fired Atkins over apparent trifles, and of being zonked on junk much of the time -- so when conflict arose again, Levene was the one to go. An aborted fourth album, from 1982, was later released by Levene as Commercial Zone. Lydon and Atkins claim that he stole the tapes, while Levene's claim is, in effect, that possession is nine-tenths of the law. Recollections, as usual, differ widely on the particulars, and the album, while considered far superior to the official This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get that later appeared, has never been legally reissued. Atkins stayed on through a disatrous live album, Live in Tokyo -- in which PiL consisted of him, Lydon, and a band of New Jersey wedding musicians -- and left in 1985, following the album, This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get. The band was moving, or perhaps hurtling, toward a more commercial pop music and dance music direction, and while many new fans had found PiL, little of their original audience (or sound) remained.

Related Topics:
Pop music - Dance music

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