Ian Lowery Group – King Blank to… (30th Anniversary re-issue via Beggars Banquet)
IAN LOWERY GROUP “KING BLANK TO..” (30th ANNIVERSARY RE-ISSUE)
DIGITAL ONLY : RELEASE DATE : AUGUST 2, 2019
The Arkive celebrates the 30th anniversary of one of 1989’s classic albums with the digital only release of ‘King Blank To..’ by The Ian Lowery Group including B-sides and previously unreleased material.
In 1987, following the break-up of seminal post-punk band Folk Devils, Ian Lowery (previously founder member, frontman and songwriter of The Wall and Ski Patrol) found himself with a recording contract with Beggars Banquet but without a band. King Blank was born. The King Blank moniker was adopted by Lowery as a vehicle for his solo projects but working in collaboration with other musicians. Through earlier Folk Devils associations, Ian had linked up with multi-instrumentalist Nigel Pulsford (later of Bush fame), former Folk Devils guitarist Kris Jozajtis, bassist Hugh Garrety, and drummer Kevin Rooney to complete his new sonic arsenal.After the acclaim of 1988’s ‘The Real Dirt’ album and after numerous live gigs, King Blank morphed into The Ian Lowery Group in August 1989. A 12” single ‘Need’/ ‘Sailor on Horse’/ ‘13thFloor’ was released together with a promotional videoIn September came the classic wordplay album title – ‘King Blank To… The Ian Lowery Group’.
Kris, along with Kevin Rooney, had departed and been replaced with Joe Hammond (ex-The Wall) on guitar and Alan Burgess (drums).Once again this new album was well received by music critics in the UK, Europe and USA. In January, 1990 the band did a short tour of Holland and in February Lowery, together with Nigel Pulsford, undertook a promotional tour of the USA. Playing in clubs, radio stations, TV Networks together with the RCA Boardroom and the Record Canteen at CBGB’s. It was around this tour that the US-only promotional flexi-disc “Ian Lowery Speaks” was released to college radio. The audio from that sliver of vinyl is one of three bonus tracks on this 30th Anniversary edition, accompanied by two previously unreleased live tracks – “Thin Air” and “Shake and Moan”. In August 1989 British music weekly Sounds nominated ‘Need’ the Single of the Week, New Musical Express called the Album ‘King Blank To’ – “Pretty damn good really!” Melody Maker exclaimed “every immaculately produced note drips with the perfect resonance necessary for the concerns of Ian Lowery”.Ian continued writing, recording and forming new bands until his untimely death in 2001. Since 2014, there has been a major revival of interest in his work with the release of compilation albums by Ski Patrol and Folk Devils (two albums), King Blank’s “The Real Dirt” together with a series of four albums chronicling all of Lowery’s unreleased material from 1990 – 2001.
It seems that Ian Lowery, a lost legend of modern music, may finally be re-discovered by a new and receptive audience.
TRACKLIST 01. NEED02. I SAID SKIN03. A KIND OF LOATHING04. SICK LITTLE MINDS05. WILD TIMES06. JACK DUST07. YOU’RE GONNA PAY08. BEACH FIRE09. NEVER TRUST ME 10. DRIVER’S ARRIVED 11. THE PARTY12. ONE LAST BLAST 13. 13TH FLOOR (B-SIDE OF “NEED”)14. SAILOR ON HORSE (B-SIDE OF “NEED”)15. THIN AIR (LIVE)16. SHAKE AND MOAN (LIVE)17. IAN LOWERY SPEAKS (PROMO FLEXI-DISC)