UJ3RK5 (sometimes written as U-J3RK5, and pronounced "''you jerk''" — the five is silent) was a
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
-based band from the late 1970s. Their style was
post-punk
Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad music genre, genre of Punk Music, punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde s ...
Rodney Graham
William Rodney Graham (January 16, 1949 – October 22, 2022) was a Canadian visual artist and musician. He was closely associated with the Vancouver School.
Early life
Graham was born in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on January 16, 1949. ...
in addition to Kitty Byrne, Colin Griffiths, Danice McLeod, Frank Ramirez and
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
host
David Wisdom
David Wisdom is a Canadian artist and former radio personality, best known as the host of ''Night Lines'', ''RadioSonic'', ''Radio-On'', and ''Pearls of Wisdom'' on CBC Radio 2.EP included "Eisenhower and the Hippies," a song inspired by a work of American
conceptual art
Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...
proponent
Dan Graham
Daniel Graham (March 31, 1942 – February 19, 2022) was an American visual artist, writer, and curator in the writer-artist tradition. In addition to his visual works, he published a large array of critical and speculative writing that spanned ...
. The EP was originally released by the independent label Quintessence Records, with a second pressing on Polygram of Canada.
After a short time, the members disbanded, returning to concentrate on their art careers. However, their music continued to be played and recorded. The ''Oh Canaduh!'' compilation albums featured two covers of UJ3RK5. "Eisenhower and the Hippies" was covered by Man or Astro-man? and "Locator" by Servotron. The songs "U-J3RK5 Work for Police" and "Naum Gabo" were included on the 1979 compilation album ''Vancouver Complication'', which was re-released in 2004 on CD with extra songs by Sudden Death Records, and then in 2007 as a 2LP set with even more extra songs by the Italian label Rockin' Bones.
In December 2016, Primary Information (co-publishing with
Emily Carr University
Emily Carr University of Art + Design (abbreviated as ECU) is a public art university located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The university's campus is located within the Great Northern Way Campus in Strathcona. The university is a co-e ...
Press) released ''Live from the
Commodore Ballroom
Commodore Ballroom is a music venue, dance floor and nightclub located on 800 block of Granville Street in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is regarded as Canada's most influential nightclub, and one of North America's best live music venues. Th ...
'', a 2LP set limited to 600 copies. It consists of a soundboard recording of their complete opening set for Gang of Four on May 26, 1980, includes seven previously unreleased songs as well as performances of the four songs from the EP and "Naum Gabo," and is now out of print.
UJ3RK5 was featured in the 2010 documentary film '' Bloodied but Unbowed'', directed by Susanne Tabata."Vancouver Complication" ''Canuckistan Music'', Michael Panontin