Maximum Joy are an English

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of 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 sensibilities and non-roc ...

band from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England,Strong, Martin C.: ''The Great Alternative & Indie Discography'', 1999, Canongate, formed in 1981 and reunited in 2015. ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...

'' compared their sound to "one of

the Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

backed by the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The gang ...

, while ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' said, "Musically, the group’s use of complex percussion, horns, danceable bass lines, and overtly English female vocals built a bridge between the worlds of

Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

avant-garde jazz Avant-garde jazz (also known as avant-jazz and experimental jazz) is a style of music and improvisation that combines avant-garde art music and composition with jazz. It originated in the early 1950s and developed through to the late 1960s. Orig ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and pop".

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

state ‘Maximum Joy is pivotal to the history of post-punk…'

History

Maximum Joy formed in 1981 by ex-

Glaxo Babies Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977.Strong, Martin C: "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", 1999, Canongate, There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, ...

member Tony Wrafter (saxophone, trumpet, flute) and Janine Rainforth (vocals, clarinet, violin). They recruited two other former Glaxo Babies members, Charlie Llewellin (drums) and Dan Catsis (bass), as well as ex- Pop Group member John Waddington (guitar). The band's influences were later described by Wrafter as "jazz, reggae, funk and

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, hip-hop (

the Last Poets The Last Poets are several groups of poets and musicians who arose from the late 1960s African-American civil rights movement's black nationalism. The name is taken from a poem by the South African revolutionary poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, who bel ...

Afrika Bambaataa Lance Taylor (born on April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (), is an American DJ, rapper, and producer from the South Bronx, New York. He is notable for releasing a series of genre-defining electro tracks in the 1980s that influenc ...

and

the Sugarhill Gang The Sugarhill Gang is an American hip hop trio. Their 1979 hit "Rapper's Delight" was the first rap single to become a top 40 hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; reaching a peak position of number 36 on January 12, 1980. This was the trio's onl ...

), dub and ambient. We weren't constrained by any single style but felt free to take what we wanted from it". Maximum Joy released three singles on

Y Records Y Records was a British independent record label set up in 1980 by Dick O'Dell in the United Kingdom, and distributed by Rough Trade. History Artists included the Slits, Shriekback and a number of groups that were associated with the Bristol ...

: "Stretch" (July 1981), "White and Green Place" (February 1982) and "In the Air" (July 1982). Kev Evans replaced Catsis after the first single. The 12" version of "Stretch" was also licensed for American release by the influential New York City label

99 Records 99 Records was an American independent record label, active from 1980 to 1984. The label was home to musicians in the no wave, post-punk, post-disco, and avant-garde scenes in New York City. History British designer Gina Franklyn sold British fa ...

. In October 1982, the band released the

Adrian Sherwood Adrian Maxwell Sherwood (born 20 January 1958, London, England) is an English record producer specialising in the genre of dub music. He has created a distinctive production style based on the application of dub effects and dub mixing technique ...

-produced album ''Station MXJY''. Jeremy Hirsch (trumpet, keyboards) then replaced Wrafter, and the band added

Nellee Hooper Nellee Hooper (born Paul Andrew Hooper on 15 March 1963) is a British record producer, remixer and songwriter known for his work with many major recording artists beginning in the late 1980s. He also debuted as a motion picture music composer w ...

(percussion, backing vocals). This lineup recorded Maximum Joy's last single, a Dennis Bovell-produced cover of

Timmy Thomas Timothy Earle Thomas (November 13, 1944 – March 11, 2022) was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, " Why Can't We Live Together". Life and career Thomas was born in Evansville, I ...

' "

Why Can't We Live Together "Why Can't We Live Together" is a song written and recorded by Timmy Thomas in 1972. A chart hit in the following year, it was included on the album '' Why Can't We Live Together''. It was one of the first major hits to feature the use of a rhyt ...

" backed by "Man of Tribes". Rainforth was forced to leave the band before the single was released, and new vocalist Peta rerecorded the vocals on the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

. It was issued in April 1983 by Garage Records, and the band split soon afterwards. Retrospective ''Unlimited (1979-1983)'' was released in 2005, and ''Station MXJY'' was reissued on CD by Beat Records in Japan in April 2008, containing various mixes of the singles as bonus tracks as well as the unreleased version of "Why Can't We Live Together" with Rainforth's original vocal. A compilation on vinyl of the band's singles between 1981-1982 "I Can't Stand It Here On Quiet Night" was released by a new label named after one of the band's tunes Silent Street Records - a collaboration between Blackest Ever Black and Idle Hands - in October 2017. It is the first vinyl reissue for the band in the UK. The band's album, ''Station MXJY'', was reissued in February 2020.

Reunion

Rainforth reformed Maximum Joy in May 2015, inviting Llewellin and Wrafter to join her. On 19 August 2015, they announced that the reunited band would perform at the Simple Things music festival on 24 October 2015 in Bristol, joined by Marek Bero on bass and James Byron on guitar. Following this Rainforth went on to form a new outfit MXMJoY, along with Charlie Llewllin and other new contributing members before releasing the first single, "Can Man Conquer It All", from their forthcoming album, ''p.e.a.c.e''. The album was released on 22 February 2019 via Bandcamp on the London Fields Recordings label (Cat no: LDNFRD02).

Other projects

Rainforth formed Leonard and the Cats with Ollie Moore (

Pigbag Pigbag were a British post-punk band, best known for their instrumentals, active between 1980 and 1983. Origin and formation Pigbag were formed in Cheltenham in late 1980 by Chris Hamlin, a fashion student at Cheltenham Art College. Hamlin ...

) and Nick Sheppard (

the Cortinas The Cortinas were a Bristol-based punk rock band, originally active between 1976 and 1978. Guitarist Nick Sheppard went on to play with the Clash. In 2001, the band's debut single, "Fascist Dictator" (originally released in June 1977), was ...

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

), and now is performing and releasing music as a solo artist under the name of Rainforth. Wrafter played flute on Tricky's 1995 album ''

Maxinquaye ''Maxinquaye'' is the debut album by English rapper and producer Tricky, released on 20 February 1995 by 4th & B'way Records, a subsidiary of Island Records. In the years leading up to the album, Tricky had grown frustrated with his limited rol ...

. Llewellin later played drums for Palace of Light, and served as a producer for

Blue Aeroplanes The Blue Aeroplanes are an English rock band from Bristol, the mainstays of which have been Gerard Langley, brother John Langley, and dancer Wojtek Dmochowski. All three had previously been members of the new wave "art band" Art Objects from ...

. He moved to Texas in 1991 and was a founder member of Austin band the Gourds. Catsis is the bassist for the reformed Pop Group. Waddington went on to play with the Ammonites, Perfume and U-BahnX. Hirsch released a solo single, "First Step", in 2006. Hooper went on to fame as a producer for

Massive Attack Massive Attack are an English trip hop collective formed in 1988 in Bristol by Robert "3D" Del Naja, Adrian "Tricky" Thaws, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall. The debut Massive Attack album ''Blue Lines'' was release ...

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs ...

, Garbage and others. He has produced six

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

Award-winning records for artists including

Smashing Pumpkins Smash may refer to: People * Smash (wrestler) (born 1959), professional wrestler * Moondog Rex, another professional wrestler who briefly wrestled as the original Smash, before being replaced by the above. * DJ Smash, DJ and music producer Art, ...

, U2,

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

and Sinead O'Connor, and won a BAFTA Award in 1998 for his work arranging the score and soundtrack for

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's ''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pr ...

''.

Personnel

;Current members (of MXMJoY) *Janine Rainforth – vocals, keyboards (1981-1983, 2015–present) *Charlie Llewellin – percussion, keyboards (1981-1983, 2015–present) *Marek Bero – bass (2015–present) *James Byron – guitar (2015–present) *Miroslav Haldina – drums, percussion (2015–present) ;Former members of Maximum Joy *Dan Catsis – bass (1981) *John Waddington - guitar (1981-1983) *Kev Evans - bass (1981-1983) *Tony Wrafter - saxophone, flute, trumpet (1981, 2015) *Jeremy Hirsch - trumpet, keyboards (1982-1983) *

- percussion, backing vocals (1982-1983) *Peta – vocals (1983)

Discography

Studio albums

*''Station MXJY'' (1982,

; reissue with bonus tracks - 2008, Beatink Records, Japan; reissue on vinyl by 1972 Records - Feb 2021)

Singles

*"Stretch" (1981, Y Records/

) *"White and Green Place" (1982, Y Records) *"In the Air" (1982, Y Records) *"Do It Today" (1982, Y Records) *"Why Can't We Live Together" (1983, Garage Records)

Compilation albums

*''Unlimited (1979-1983)'' (2005, Crippled Dick Hot Wax!) *"I Can't Stand it Here on Quiet Nights" (2017, Silent Street Records)

References

External links

Maximum Joy official web-siteMaximum Joy at Discogs.comMXMJoY official web-site
{{Authority control English rock music groups English post-punk music groups Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups disestablished in 1983 Musical groups from Bristol