Konk (Band)
Encyclopedia
Formed in 1980 in New York City
, KONK was a band that emerged during a period marked by the Post-Punk
/New-Wave
and Disco
scenes which were prevalent at the time. KONK won the attention of both scenes by playing a hybrid of the two musical styles which involved the blending of a New Wave
attitude with the carefree nature of Disco
's dance crowd. KONK's musical influences ranged from Afro-beat, Jazz
, and Funk
to Hip-Hop
. Given these influence KONK's style is noted as being highly percussive, and containing simple, yet strong, backing bass lines. As part of New York’s Post-Punk
dance scene they regularly played alongside groups such as Liquid Liquid
, Bush Tetras
, ESG
, The Peech Boys and The Lounge Lizards
. They have been featured in a recent book by David Byrne
and others on the New York post-punk scene.
personality Dana Vlcek and had among its many members: Richard Edson
, who also played drums on the first Sonic Youth
record and has had acting roles in such films as Spike Lee
's Do the Right Thing
and Jim Jarmusch
's Stranger Than Paradise
; Geordie Gillespie, who provided percussion and back-up vocals; Angel Quinones on congas, who later played for Jimmy Buffett; another member was Shannon Dawson (trumpet), who also was an early associate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
in the band Gray, and the SAMO graffiti
, and who did some of the band's promo poster art work. He is the uncle of actress Rosario Dawson
. The band was managed by Ken Sitz, now creative director of Conelrad.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, KONK was a band that emerged during a period marked by the Post-Punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
/New-Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
and Disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
scenes which were prevalent at the time. KONK won the attention of both scenes by playing a hybrid of the two musical styles which involved the blending of a New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
attitude with the carefree nature of Disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
's dance crowd. KONK's musical influences ranged from Afro-beat, Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, and Funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
to Hip-Hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
. Given these influence KONK's style is noted as being highly percussive, and containing simple, yet strong, backing bass lines. As part of New York’s Post-Punk
Post-punk
Post-punk is a rock music movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
dance scene they regularly played alongside groups such as Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid
Liquid Liquid is a New York City post-punk, post-disco band, originally active from 1980 to 1983. They are perhaps best known for their track, "Cavern", which was covered by the Sugar Hill Records house band as the backing track for Grandmaster + Melle Mel's old school rap classic, "White Lines "...
, Bush Tetras
Bush Tetras
Bush Tetras are an American post-punk band from New York City, popular in the Manhattan club scene in the early 1980s but never achieving much mainstream success. Their music combined funk rhythms and dissonant guitar riffs.-History:...
, ESG
ESG
ESG may refer to:* Engineering Seismology Group, a microseismic monitoring and data analysis company from Canada.* Environmental Social and Corporate Governance, the commonly accepted factors involved in Responsible Investment assessments...
, The Peech Boys and The Lounge Lizards
The Lounge Lizards
The Lounge Lizards are a jazz group formed in 1978 by saxophone player John Lurie.Initially a tongue in cheek "fake jazz" combo, drawing on punk rock and no wave as much as jazz, The Lounge Lizards have since become respected for their creative and distinctive sound.-History:Lounge Lizards were...
. They have been featured in a recent book by David Byrne
David Byrne
David Byrne may refer to:*David Byrne , musician and former Talking Heads frontman**David Byrne , his eponymous album*David Byrne , Irish footballer*David Byrne , English footballer...
and others on the New York post-punk scene.
Members
KONK was formed by avant-garde jazzAvant-garde jazz
Avant-garde jazz is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. Avant-jazz often sounds very similar to free jazz, but differs in that, despite its distinct departure from traditional harmony, it has a predetermined structure over which ...
personality Dana Vlcek and had among its many members: Richard Edson
Richard Edson
Richard Edson is an American actor and musician.-Biography:Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters: Andrea, who resides in Newton, Massachusetts and Jennifer, who resides in New York City. His father Arnold was one of...
, who also played drums on the first Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth
Sonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
record and has had acting roles in such films as Spike Lee
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee is an American film director, producer, writer, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres & A Mule Filmworks, has produced over 35 films since 1983....
's Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing
Do the Right Thing is a 1989 American dramedy produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee, who is also a featured actor in the film. Other members of the cast include Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, and John Turturro. It is also notably the...
and Jim Jarmusch
Jim Jarmusch
James R. "Jim" Jarmusch is an American independent film director, screenwriter, actor, producer, editor and composer. Jarmusch has been a major proponent of independent cinema, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s.-Early life:...
's Stranger Than Paradise
Stranger Than Paradise
Stranger Than Paradise is a 1984 American absurdist/deadpan comedy film. It was written and directed by Jim Jarmusch and stars jazz musician John Lurie, former Sonic Youth drummer-turned-actor Richard Edson, and Hungarian-born actress Eszter Balint...
; Geordie Gillespie, who provided percussion and back-up vocals; Angel Quinones on congas, who later played for Jimmy Buffett; another member was Shannon Dawson (trumpet), who also was an early associate of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was an American artist. His career in art began as a graffiti artist in New York City in the late 1970s, and in the 1980s produced Neo-expressionist painting.-Early life:...
in the band Gray, and the SAMO graffiti
SAMO© Graffiti
SAMO© Graffiti appeared in New York City from 1977 to early 1980. They were short phrases, in turns poetic and sarcastic, mainly painted on the streets of downtown Manhattan. The tag SAMO© has been primarily associated with the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, but was developed mainly as a...
, and who did some of the band's promo poster art work. He is the uncle of actress Rosario Dawson
Rosario Dawson
Rosario Isabel Dawson is an American actress, singer, and writer. She has appeared in films such as Kids, Men in Black II, 25th Hour, Sin City, Clerks II, Rent, Death Proof, The Rundown, Eagle Eye, Alexander, Seven Pounds, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and Unstoppable.-Early...
. The band was managed by Ken Sitz, now creative director of Conelrad.
Discography
- "Soka-Loka-Moki" (7" single, 1981, Konk Organization, distributed by 99 Records99 Records99 Records was an independent record label active from 1980-1984. 99 was run out of a record store with the same name, located at 99 MacDougal Street in New York City's Greenwich Village, and owned by Ed Bahlman...
) - "Konk Party" (12" single, 4 tracks, 1982, Les Disques Du CrépusculeLes Disques du CrepusculeLes Disques Du Crépuscule was a Belgian independent record label.The label was started in 1980 by Michel Duval and Annik Honoré, residents of Brussels who had previously organised and promoted concerts in the city. Initial releases were by Factory Records artists, and were labelled as being...
/Interference) - "Konk Party" (12" single, 4 tracks, 1983, Celluloid RecordsCelluloid RecordsCelluloid Records, a French/American record label, founded by Jean Georgakarakos operated from 1976 to 1989 in New York, and produced a series of eclectic and ground-breaking releases, particularly in the early to late 1980s, largely under the auspices of de facto in-house producer Bill...
) - Yo! (LP, 1983, Les Disques Du Crépuscule)
- "Your Life" (12" single, 4 tracks, 1984, Sleeping Bag RecordsSleeping Bag RecordsSleeping Bag Records is a defunct New York City-based old school hip hop and dance music independent record label that operated from 1981 to 1992...
) - "Love Attack" (12" single, 3 tracks, 1986, Dog Brothers Records)
- "Machine" (12" single, 2 tracks, 1987, Dog Brothers Records)
- Jams (LP, 1988, Dog Brothers Records)
- The Sound of KONK (Tales of the New York Underground 1981-88) compilation CD/2xL.P., 2004, Soul Jazz RecordsSoul Jazz RecordsSoul Jazz Records is a British-based record label. The label started in the 1990s, releasing compilation albums of predominantly black music, including reggae, soul, ska, Dub and jazz...
- New York Noise (compilation LP/CD, Soul Jazz Records, 2003) includes song "Baby Dee" by Konk.
- "KONK: The Definitive Collection" (10-song digital release, 2008, Unleashed Music)
- KONK Live at CBGB November 6, 1981 (8 song digital release, 2009, Unleashed Music)
Sample Uses
- Queen Latifah - All Hail the Queen
- St Etienne - Only Love Will Break Your Heart - "Little" Louie Vega, Kenny "Dope" Gonzalez Mix
Billboard Charts
- "Your Life" - #5 Dance Chart August 11, 1984
- KONK Jams LP Cuts #30 May 7, 1988
Film Placements
- Bright Lights Big City - Dir James Bridges, Song - Love Attack
- Broken Embraces - Dir Pedro Almodovar, Song - Your Life
- Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child - Dir Tamra Davis, Song - Your Life