Ski Patrol
Versions Of A Life (recordings 1979-1981)
On vinyl, this is a collection of recorded works by London's post-punk band SKI PATROL. Formed in 1979 by singer IAN LOWERY and guitarist NICK CLIFT, the band played moody, epic, angular music. Active until late 1981, Ski Patrol's output mirrored the dub-reggae influences of their Brixton and Ladbroke Grove home-bases, the civil unrest of post-punk Britain and the freedom to push aside the rock rulebook as had been done by their peers PiL and Gang Of Four. They self-released their first single in early 1980 and came to the attention of Killing Joke's Malicious Damage label and management. This association produced the band's biggest success, the 1980 indie chart hit 'Agent Orange', which featured Killing Joke's JAZ COLEMAN on synths. 'Versions Of A Life' collects Ski Patrol's recorded output in one place for the first time. This anthology also shines a light on the darkly comic, paranoid, often elegiac gutter poetry of the late Ian Lowery, who passed away in 2001.