Although they existed for what was a mere blip in the wider scheme of things, Edinburgh's Josef K produced what is - for this writer at least - a damn near exemplary catalogue and he often feels sad they never went on to achieve what surely would have been far greater commercial rewards had they remained together.
Typically, JK's engmatic leader Paul Haig shrugged off such thoughts within a week of the band's split and had far grander designs to pursue. Indeed, interviewed by late great journalist Johnny Waller in your reviewer's old rag 'Sounds' in 1982, Haig was quoted as saying: "I don't mind being manipulated to a certain extent in order to get what I want, but in time I want to control everything."
Didn't want much did you, then, Paul? However, it's true that in the (strewth) two decades since, Haig has followed a singular, but rarely less than intriguing solo path strewn with collaborations, failed experiments and some bloody glorious triumphs that shouldn't have been so readily shoved into the shadows of cultdom.
Haig's second album, "The Warp Of Pure Fun" (from 1985 and initially released on Crepuscule offshoot label Operation Afterglow) is arguably still his finest solo recording to date, despite stiff competition from his 1991 set "Coincidence vs.Fate", his collaborations with the late Billy McKenzie and his ongoing "Cinematique" series, so its' long-overdue re-issue is something to celebrate, not least as LTM (as is often the case) spoil us by tagging on a further superb seven additional tracks.
Admittedly, a few of the album's overt '80s trappings (the interminable drum machine programs, stiff sequences and the Antichrist's right hand man: the bass synth -aaargh!) do help to dilute the album's impact slightly these days, but Haig's knack for heady melody coupled with enigmatic lyrics and that wonderfully aloof delivery remain gloiously intact and is coaxed into wonderful shapes by ex-Associate mainstay Alan Rankine's impressive production.
The fact that "The Warp..." is also heavy on the shoulda-been-huge singles quota also helps significantly. The album features four of the blighters and they're all tremendous: ranging from the bracing anthem that is "Heaven Help You Now" to the expansive "Love Eternal", through the seriously radio-friendly "Big Blue World" and the fetchingly funky and melancholic "The Only Truth": this latter another of those sublime Bernard Sumner/ Donald Johnstone collaborations, and every bit as good as anything from the "Cool As Ice" BeMusic productions CD recently released by LTM.
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Although a catchy, danceable sensibility prevails, Rankine rightly retained Haig's scratchy guitar textures, while Rankine's keyboard colourings are rarely less than expressive and other heavy friends such as The Chanter Sisters and Graham Parker drummer Steve Goulding also weigh in with contributions.Meanwhile, Tuxedomoon's Blaine Reininger adds some quicksilver strings to "Love And War" (also featuring a welcome reappearance from Sumner and Johnstone) and with "Scare Me" Haig and Rankine's guitar whirlpool sounds every bit as crazed and intoxicating as the old JK days.
Talking of which, the additional tracks feature a magnificently potent cover of Suicide's low-riding biker epic "Ghost Rider" and the spine-chilling "Endless Song", both of which feature ex-Josef K guitarist Malcolm Ross and former Orange Juice bassist David McClymont and bristle with both bands' spiky genius. That these should have been tucked away as B-sides beggars belief, as does the fact that until now "Shining Hour" was only commercially available on the Crepuscule compilation "European Sun." Sheesh!
So yeah, while some of Haig's decisions - and his unfortunate reluctance to play live anything like regularly - have seemed rash and nonsensical for someone who "in time, wants to control everything", there's no denying he remains one of our most gifted, mercurial talents. "The Warp Of Pure Fun" still takes some beating eighteen years on and makes magnificent rubble of the theory that there were no superb pop albums released during the excessively naff mid-1980s.
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