Jim Walker (drummer)

Jim Walker (born 1955) is a Canadian musician who was a founding director as well as the original drummer for the UK music group Public Image Ltd.[1]

Jim Walker
Born1955
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
GenresPunk rock, post-punk
InstrumentsDrums
Years active1977–1984
Associated actsPublic Image Ltd.

Early life and education

James Donat Walker was born in Edmonton, Alberta. He first trained as a jazz drummer at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he was taught by Alan Dawson and Joe Hunt.[2]

Career

In 1977, along with Malcolm Hasman and Chris Arnett he formed the Vancouver area punk band the Furies, the first punk rock band in Western Canada.[3] The band broke up after a few months, and Walker moved to London later that year. In early May 1978, after answering an ad placed in Melody Maker,[4] he auditioned for and became a founding member of Public Image Ltd., with John Lydon, Keith Levene and John Wardle (Jah Wobble).[5][6]

Dissatisfied with the band's direction, he left PiL as a player in February 1979, and as a director in January 1980. After PiL, he played for a few lesser known local London bands, including The Pack and The Straps,[7][8] before forming the Human Condition in 1981 with Jah Wobble and Dave "Animal" Maltby.[9] The Human Condition were together for just over a year, playing to mixed reviews, before disbanding in 1982.

In 1984 he left London for New York, and after playing that year left the music industry.[10] Walker was interviewed for the 2017 documentary film. The Public Image is Rotten.[11]

References
  1. "PiL: The Public Image Is Rotten (Songs From the Heart) review – how John Lydon bulldozed pop". The Guardian, Chal Ravens, 19 Jul 2018
  2. "Jim Walker". Allmusic, Biography by Eugene Chadbourne
  3. "The Furies". Bloodied but Unbowed, Scott Beadle and Les Wiseman | January 22, 2010
  4. "Record Bin: How Public Image Ltd escaped the shadow of its punk lineage on “Metal Box”". Nooga Today, May 16, 2017.
  5. Steve Taylor (27 September 2006). The A to X of Alternative Music. A&C Black. p. 196. ISBN 978-0-8264-8217-4.
  6. Kenneth L. Shonk, Jr.; Daniel Robert McClure (17 August 2017). Historical Theory and Methods through Popular Music, 1970–2000: "Those are the New Saints". Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 161. ISBN 978-1-137-57072-7.
  7. "John Werner on the Furies, the Pack, Theatre of Hate, and the Vancouver–U.K. punk migration". Georgia Straight, by Allan MacInnis, January 15, 2019
  8. Ian Glasper (1 May 2014). Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980–1984. PM Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-1-60486-989-7.
  9. Simon Reynolds (10 August 2010). Totally Wired: Postpunk Interviews and Overviews. Soft Skull Press. p. 32. ISBN 978-1-59376-394-7.
  10. "John Lydon resurrects his 'folk band'". The Globe and Mail, May 7, 2010, Joshua Ostroff
  11. "The Public Image Is Rotten". Chicago Reader, j. R. Jones.
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