1979
Melody Maker · Notting Hill
Became famous
Draft. The ad text below is a paraphrase from documented sources. A curator will replace it with the verbatim wording once we've checked an archive scan. The outcome and citation are otherwise accurate.
classified · as printed
Want to be part of the Killing Joke? Total exploitation. Total publicity. Total anonymity.
What happened next
Jaz Coleman's deranged ad attracted guitarist Geordie Walker and the rest of what became one of post-punk's most uncompromising bands. Their self-titled debut arrived in 1980; 'Eighties' (1984) was famously echoed in Nirvana's 'Come As You Are' a decade later.
Source
Melody Maker classifieds, 1979. Wording closely echoes the band's first manifesto; per Killing Joke biographies. Issue pending scan.
Further
cite this ad
“Want to be part of the Killing Joke? Total exploitation. Total publicity. Total anonymity.” — Melody Maker, 1979. Musolist museum, /museum/british-weeklies/killing-joke-coleman-1979.