It was a shock last week to learn of the passing of Geordie Walker, Killing Joke’s powerhouse guitarist since March 1979. Watching Geordie play was like watching an optical illusion. Calm in the eye of the storm he seemed to be unmoved by the musical cacophony that enveloped him. His playing was more than laid back as he slowly massaged the strings of his Gibson. As seemingly effortless means of creating a wall of sound, the sonic assault that underpinned so much of the band’s material.
Like The Stranglers, Killing Joke have enjoyed the loyalty of an ardent fanbase for many years, through good times and bad, and I am sure that they are keenly feeling the same sense of loss that accompanied the loss of Dave and Jet. With Jaz due to embark on his spoken word tour of a life with Killing Joke in March, I wonder what the future holds for this legendary band.
Here is a fairly recent recording of the band from Manchester. Many thanks to the original Dime uploader (rbose1).
RIP Geordie Walker.
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