About Maximum Joy
Maximum Joy’s spiky, joyful post-punk funk rose up from the fertile Bristol scene of the late 70s and early 80s, when local musicians inspired by the likes of punk, Albert Ayler, I-Roy and Funkadelic grafted their music on to the politics of punk rock.
17-year-old Janine Rainforth (vocals, violin, clarinet) and Tony Wrafter (saxophone, trumpet) recruited bassist Dan Catsis and drummer Charlie Llewellin from the Glaxo Babies, and guitarist John Waddington from the Pop Group, to complete the line-up. The music they made mixed punk, reggae, funk, jazz and hip-hop grooves with wild improvisation and attitude — these dance-dub tunes sound fresh and alive today.
In 2015 Rainforth spearheaded the reforming of the band to play at Bristol’s Simple Things festival — joined by original members Tony Wrafter and Charlie Llewellin, along with new players James Byron on guitar and Marek Bero on bass. Janine and Charlie went on to release a new album, P.E.A.C.E., in 2018.
The demand for Maximum Joy music keeps on — the back catalogue is in constant worldwide demand.
P.E.A.C.E. — released by London Field Recordings, Feb 2019
P.E.A.C.E. maintains all of the things that made Maximum Joy’s music so good — great grooves, Slits-esque bravura and the ability to cross between genres at will — and updates it with modern sonic techniques and production styles. The resulting sound takes in so much of Bristol’s rich musical history. Bleep
A blissful amalgam of electronica and R&B laced with a grittier, brooding undercurrent that harks back to their early-80s vision. Crack Magazine 7/10
Listen to Searching for a Feeling →
Back catalogue & re-issues
- White & Green Place — extra-terrestrial mix plus additional dance tracks on Lantern
- Stretch — 12″ version on 1972
- Station MXJY — reissue on 1972
- I Can’t Stand It Here On Quiet Nights — Silent Street Records
- “Let It Take You There” — produced by Adrian Sherwood for Station MXJY, included on Adrian Sherwood’s “Sherwood at the Controls Vol 1”.
- “White and Green Place” — featured on an exclusive Mojo cover-mount CD as part of Madonna’s NYC underground sounds.
- Vinyl & CD compilation Unlimited 1979–1983 on Germany’s cult label Crippled Dick Hot Wax (cdhw101).
- Featured on Strut’s Disco Not Disco and more recently Strut Sessions.
- Station MXJY re-released by Beatink in Japan, May 2007 (BRC-193) on CD.
BBC sessions
Legendary John Peel championed Maximum Joy — they recorded several sessions for his BBC Radio 1 show, along with Kid Jensen on BBC Radio 1. A newly remastered version of these sessions was released in 2022 (find them on Bandcamp).
Janine was also invited in by Gilles Peterson for his BBC 6 Music show Bristol Underground Musical History.
Discography
- 1981 Stretch / Silent Street — 12″ & 7″ singleY Records
- 1982 White & Green Place / Building Bridges — 12″ & 7″ singleY Records
- 1982 All In The Air / Simmer Til Done — 12″ & 7″ singleY Records
- 1982 Station MXJY — LPY Records
- 1983 Why Can’t We Live Together / Man of Tribes — 12″ & 7″ singleGarage Records
- 2019 P.E.A.C.E. — LPLondon Field Recordings
- 2022 Joy Again / Bring It On / Love Is Everywhere — EPLondon Field Recordings
- 2022 The BBC R1 Sessions — remastered releaseBandcamp