THE WORK

The Work biography

The Work were formed in the UK by multi-instrumentalist and composer Tim Hodgkinson with guitarist/composer Bill Gilonis. Hodgkinson had been a co-founder of Henry Cow, he and fellow H.C. co-founder Gilonis began to record together in 1980. Their experimental sonic creations led to the formation of an independent record label, Woof Records, and to the formation of The Work, including Mick Hobbs on bass and Rick Wilson on drums.

The band's first recording was the EP I Hate America released on the Woof label in 1981. The band then toured Europe in 1981 and 1982, performing in the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, France, Italy and Yugoslavia. Some of those live performances were later released on a cassette called The Worst of Everywhere (1983). In 1982 they played at a Rock in Opposition Festival in Bonn with Catherine Jauniaux. After the tour they recorded their first album, Slow Crimes, which was released by the Woof label in 1982, with Jauniaux as a guest musician.

1982 was a year of upheaval for the band - Wilson left to study Kathakali in India, and soon after Hobbs left also. Hodgkinson and Gilonis were committed to the tour scheduled for Japan, and asked ex-Henry Cow drummer Chris Cutler and bass player Jim Amos Welton to join them for the tour. With this new line-up The Work played three concerts in Tokyo and one in Osaka. The Osaka concert was recorded on a cassette recorder half-way down the hall, this was later cleaned up and released by Recommended Records Japan on an LP Live in Japan. At the end of the tour, the group split up.

In 1989 The Work reformed with its original members and recorded Rubber Cage. They then toured Europe for the next two years. In 1992, they recorded their final album, See; and in 1993 they played at the St. Petersburg Open Music Festival in Russia. The Work's final live performances were in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia and the Czech Republic in 1994 .In 2010 The 4th World, an album that had been recorded live in Breisgau in that final year, was released by Ad Hoc Records. The original recording was mono, but it was mastered into stereo by Udi Koomran.

- Addition prepared and written by Claire (listennow801) -

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